Külföldi torrent oldalak Australian Pirates Beware: 'dallas Buyers Club' Rights Holders To Expand Hunt

Just because you are not a customer of iiNet does not mean you are going to avoid being fined for illegally downloading Dallas Buyers Club.

The Australian rights holder to the film plans to target customers of Telstra, TPG, Optus and all other Australian Internet service providers (ISPs), the rights holder's lawyers confirmed to Mashable Australia.

Dallas Buyers Club LLC (DBC), represented by Marque Lawyers, successfully fought for the right to access personal information of Internet service provider iiNet's customers in a landmark federal court case earlier this year.

"DBC will be writing to the other ISPs in the next week seeking consent to similar court orders as those obtained against iiNet," Marque Lawyers partner Nathan Mattock said.

DBC is hoping the iiNet case, which saw the ISP pay 75% of the rights holder's court costs, will encourage other ISPs to skip a court battle and instead hand over the details of customers caught illegally downloading the Voltage Pictures film starring Matthew McConaughey.

"Given privacy issues, the court will need to make an order, but given the iiNet judgment Mattock said the iiNet case, which captured the IP addresses of more than 4,700 Australians during a one-month period, is only a "test case" that captured the uploads (or seeds) of a small selection of pirates. This capturing method — using German Maverick Eye technology — is expected to be extended to all other Australian ISPs over a 12 to 18-month period.

In Federal Court on Thursday, DBC resisted iiNet's request for A$108,000 in security before it hands over customer IP addresses. DBC's lawyer, Barrister Ian Pike, said the rights holder wanted to "have it out" on the amount, with an eye to keeping costs down in future legal action. Justice Nye Perram agreed the decision would set a significant precedent for Australian piracy cases.

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ISPs want $108,000 in security before handing over customer details. DBC resisting. #iidallas

— Ariel Bogle (@arielbogle) May 21, 2015

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DBC lawyer says they want to "have it out" about costs, with an eye to precedent. #iidallas

— Ariel Bogle (@arielbogle) May 21, 2015
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Justice Perram: "whatever happens in this case is going to shape what happens in future cases." #iidallas

— Ariel Bogle (@arielbogle) May 21, 2015
When a person downloads a movie using BitTorrent, the film also automatically uploads, making it available to other pirates. The illegal torrenter can be caught red-handed when Dallas Buyers Club is uploaded.

"One of the things with the BitTorrent network, there are ample steps [users take] to engage in that network and engage in the file sharing of copyright works," Mattock added.

An infringer could be fined the cost of damages for their piracy activities, plus an amount the court decides will serve as a deterrent for others. In Australia, there has been no precedent set for this figure.

Fines will be determined on a "case by case" basis, taking into account personal situations, Mattock said.

It is very unusual that illegal downloaders have only pirated once, Mattock said.

"To say Dallas Buyers Club was the only film you downloaded is highly unlikely, but it may occur," Mattock said. "People on the BitTorrent network, using anecdotal evidence, will engage in the use of that network on a regular basis."

He dismissed the A$10 penalty listed in a blog by iiNet as a "myth," stating this is the cost for a download. DBC is seeking damages from those who instead uploaded the film, albeit sometimes automatically without their knowledge.

"It may be only $10 for a download, but the damages for an upload and the additional damages are yet to be determined," Mattock said. This means infringers can expect to pay much larger sums, especially if they are a regular user of BitTorrent.

Once iiNet provides customers' details, letters will be sent to infringers. DBC will then try to resolve the issue with a pirate through a settlement, or take proceedings against an individual if they deny the claim.

The four-page letter — the draft of which will be approved "in papers" by Perram, the judge said on Thursday — will not include a monetary value, but instead outline the infringement and call for the pirate to open up discussions with DBC lawyers, Mattock told Mashable Australia.

One of the main requirements included in the April judgement is that the court has to oversee the letter sent from DBC to iiNet customers, to prevent "speculative invoicing" — where large sums are demanded and an infringer is told if they pay they will avoid being taken to court.

"The letters are quite thorough, they don’t just make statements, they have the full explanation because one of the things my clients want is to make people fully aware of what has occurred on their network, what is the legal position and what they are proposing," Mattock said.

With no value for damages being listed within the letter, the court will not be involved in this process, often leaving infringers to negotiate their own settlements. On Wednesday, iiNet said in a blog post it would offer pro-bono legal assistance to any of its affected customers.

Telstra told Mashable Australia it will only provide customer information to a rights holder if a court requires the company to do so.

"If a court did order disclosure of customer details, we would want to make sure there are appropriate protections in place for our customers’ privacy and we would work with any impacted customers so they understood what was taking place," Telstra spokesperson Steve Carey said.

An Optus spokesperson told Mashable Australia Optus’ terms and conditions do not permit customers to use their services for illegal purposes such as copyright infringement. "Optus considers all requests for access to customer information on their merits and co-operates with law enforcement agencies and courts," she said.

At the moment, there may only be thousands of Australian pirates walking the plank, but with DBC setting its sights on making all Australians cut their pirating habits — when it next casts its net, tens of thousands of infringers may be caught.

Australia, step away from the BitTorrent.

iiNet and TPG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.