Sydney - A group of seven Hollywood movie studios has filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Australia's third-largest Internet service provider, alleging that iiNet has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent its customers from sharing their films on its network.

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) said that the lawsuit filed by member studios Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Disney and the Seven Network was necessary "because the ISP ignored repeated notices over many months identifying thousands of illegal file transfers via iiNet's network carried out by its customers."

"Our members have asked the court to order the ISP to act to prevent the continuing unauthorized use of copies of our titles by its customers, consistent with iiNet's own terms and conditions which prohibit illegal activity on its network," said AFACT executive director Adrianne Pecotic.

Pecotic also told CNET News.com that iiNet's options to comply, should the court rule in the studios' favor, include giving customers who traded films notice, throttling download speeds, or limiting access to peer-to-peer protocols.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/644ev (PDF of AFACT statement)

http://snipurl.com/640nl (TorrentFreak)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10103869-93.html

http://www.iinet.net.au