AUSTRALIA – The Dallas Buyers Club rights holder has urged the Federal Court to coerce ISPs including iiNet and Dodo to hand over thousands of Australians’ subscriber information by May 6.
Conditions
Earlier this May, Justice Pye Nerram has ordered six ISPs to surrender the details of the customers behind the 4,726 IP addresses, who have allegedly downloaded Dallas Buyers Club illegally from P2P services. However, this order should only be carried out if Voltage adheres to the following conditions:
- Voltage Pictures should cover the costs for the ISPs, with iiNet seeking AU$275,000 in security.
- The Federal Court must see the drafts of the letters sent to the subscribers.
The conditions were designed to prevent “speculative invoicing,” something that Voltage Pictures has used to demand $9,000 in compensation for damages in the US.
Response
Voltage Pictures argued that it should not be coerced to pay for the costs of the case. Voltage Pictures counsel Ian Pike stated:
“It was their choice as to whether they enter the ring. They didn’t have … immunity from costs. In those circumstances, we ought to have our costs.”
He also added that iiNet should bear the costs of the case, as it was their choice to “fight the battle of the third party to which they are a stranger.”
Reactions
The actual draft of the sent letters would not be ready until May 6, and Perrram declared that a further hearing would be conducted. He also told iiNet counsel Richard Lancaster, “Mr. Pike might roll up with the letter… I’m sure you won’t be happy about it.”
Perram added that there would be a debate, after which he would put forth “a short set of reasons.” Pike declared that as iiNet has “no interest” in the form of the letter sent to its subscribers, the debate should only be between Voltage Pictures and Perram.
The case continues.
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