This result of the MP3s4Free case today in the Federal Court is extremely disappointing and a worrying indication about the direction of Australian law. So now it’s illegal to LINK to pirated material. What’s next? Making it illegal to TALK about it (which is, essentially, what linking is). This is a direct attack on the right to free speech.
Even the ISP that was used to host the site, Com-Cen, have been dragged into it:
… the court found that the companies and its employees had the power to stop the infringement and did not do so and so had also infringed copyright.
What about the electricity company that powered the ISP? Should they be held liable as well? What about the telco that sold the ISP it’s bandwidth? Their landlord?
Music industry claims big scalp - Breaking - Technology - theage.com.au
All five respondents in the music industry's piracy case against music download website MP3s4free.net were found to have infringed copyright today and the industry will now pursue damages against them.
The long-running case is significant in that it was found that linking to pirated material, and not just downloading it, is an infringement of copyright under Australian law.
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