[AusNOG] So are iiNet condoning illegal piracy?

[Paul Gear]

On 06/11/2014 11:43 AM, Mike Ryan - Brass Razoo Group wrote:
>
> By opposing legislation that outlaws criminal activity (intellectual 
> property theft) are iiNet giving a tacit nod to illegal activities? 
> ISP's and carriers are not liable for the behaviour of their clients. 
> iiNet should stick to providing shareholder value and ensuring system 
> availability.
> It's called "Rule of Law".

Hi Mike,

Some random points in contrast to what I assume you're suggesting:

  * Even the vocabulary that big media uses to characterise unauthorised
    copying is prejudicial.  Unauthorised copying is not murder and
    robbery on the high seas; piracy happens in Somalia.
  * Something is only illegal when the law makes it so.  Whether or not
    it is unethical is another matter entirely, and much more
    debatable.  See "The Ethical Case Against Intellectual Property" [1]
    for an interesting (if academic) perspective on this.
  * ISPs and enterprise network operators not only should not be liable
    for the behaviour of their clients, they also should not be expected
    to police it on behalf of big media.  If iiNet have to invest time &
    effort into doing so, this will have a dramatic effect on both their
    shareholder value and system availability, because it will move
    costs from more important areas to copyright enforcement. 
    (Personally, I'd rather iiNet focused on providing customer value
    than shareholder value, but I'm rather biased on that, being a
    member of the former group, but not the latter.)
  * Unauthorised downloading of movies, books, software, etc. for
    personal use is not a criminal offence in Australia; only copying
    and distribution for profit is. [2]  Big media is essentially trying
    to change a civil matter into a criminal matter to reduce the effort
    they need to expend to enforce their rights and to save themselves
    from looking bad in the eyes of the public.  They should spend more
    effort on getting their pricing and availability right, and less on
    making the government and ISPs doing their dirty work for them.
  * Australia has no fair use laws (which many (most?) other
    jurisdictions do) to preserve the balance of rights between
    producers and consumers.  The proposed changes would shift this
    balance further away from the consumer.

Regards,
Paul

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGUV79yuZ5A
[2] I'm assuming the verity of the description of Australian law here: 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-10/berg-coalition-in-murky-waters-in-hunt-for-online-pirates/5511524

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