Earlier this month John Linton, chief of internet service provider Exetel, revealed in his blog that a US company called Lightning Entertainment had presented his firm with a list of 150 internet protocol addresses that Lightning claims have been used to illegally download the film Kill the Irishmen and asked if Exetel could provide more information about the owners of those addresses.
Lightning Entertainment is said to have a list of 9,000 internet protocols that it is targeting. It is being represented by the Movie Rights Group, which has an address in the Australian state of Queensland.
The Movie Rights Group advertises a range of services, including: copyrighting work (where needed); tracking and identifying infringers; launching lawsuits; and then settling those lawsuits.
The firm appears to have a lot in common with so-called copyright trolls in the US such as Righthaven and the now defunct UK Firm ACS:Law.
The enforcement policies of both those firms have proved highly unpopular, and Kate Haddock, a partner of Banki Haddock Fiori, told Managing IP that Australia would be equally hostile.
"It would be very politically unpopular to sue individuals for copyright infringement," she said.
She added that the company could face a similar problem to that faced by Righthaven: if it does not own the relevant copyrights, it cannot enforce them.
An additional problem in Australia when compared with the US, said Haddock, is the lack of statutory damages: "What a court might order in damages is completely unpredictable."
She added that the trolls could damage the delicate debate over online copyright enforcement that has developed in the country in the past few years.
The closely watched over whether iiNet authorised copyright infringement is scheduled to be heard on December 1 and 2.
At the same time, ISPs and copyright owners are trying to negotiate an agreement on how to enforce rights online in a way that is satisfactory to both parties.
"This is not trying to stop piracy – it's about trying to get another income stream," said Haddock.
