See no evil a dangerous defence

Tuesday, 31 March 2009 | Peter Moon

I t r e s r i e r v d r i e i p a i g d n e o s a e n t l n m r l g l c i n i h u t a i n n i t r a i n l i m o y i h o n r . T e o p n i h l i g t a f s l t t e l i t a i c n' b s r , i t e b e c o c u t u i g , t a c p r g t n e t i m n i b i g o n o d d n t n t o k.

h s s u k m. h p i a y s o t e i T r e t i e r n f r y t m t h h a t f h l t g t o i d w l a i g i m , T p o r m a d t e c p r g t a e i l.

i e 's w c u t o u e t a m t s u h. n e a e d n "p l c e o c p r g t n r n e e t," h c m a y u t s t o n t f m t r a s. i e h r n a d t p o o o s r i e s n e e a , b t h c n e t h r d n h m e e a l i n t - l h u h i T r e t s e c i e a b i g o a i l g l s o e t e s s e s.

i e 's e e c d c m n s a e t a p e -t -p e s f w r l k B t o r n c n e s d o i n c n p r o e . S c n r w a s, u w k o t e l k i a a a l v a 3 m s l o t e t i l c r y n h s r w a f r e a i u i t n . T e a c l s t o n e u p e t s e l n i 's c i e n o t l c s. o p a t c l u p s s, P r n i g i T r e t s o n e u p e f r o y i h i f i g m n .

P e -t -p e t a f c s t o- d e s o d o t e n e n t n u t y. t u d n t e r e w r s u i a s m a s i b s n s . P i a e y, e i t e n u t y s i a e l e a B t o r n a l s t a 8 p r e t. o o y o l b s r r s d f h t u f g r i w l o e 9 p r e t. e a y e o p e -t -p e t a f c a h c o s h A s r l a i t r e e e y a , a d h t e n m v e a d V p s d s y h t n o t o s n s.

f h f l i d s r c n e t i m s a e h o g t a o r , i N t a a r b e a d t t c n c l e e c s t r t a p a p e t d s e a e. t h a i g a t e k, a y r f o t d n r u e t h t i c B t o r n s l t a o i i t m n t n p c e s h t r v r e h n t n i i u l y, o e f h m o n s s h s b t n i l o t o r q i e t c n t t t i f i g m n .

I a o r u d r t n s h t t o s n m v e a e e n d w l a e b i N t u t m r a a y i e m m n , i w l b h r t i p e s s n a g m n s i e h t.

o s , t e o r w l c n l d t e S m s h v s u i s y s, n h t p o b i d e s h t h C p r g t c c l s n r n e e t y u h r s t o . T e r n i t a a I P h t c n w e g s o e n e n t o n c i n a e h g e t s i s r m n o c p r g t n r n e e t n u a h s o y a n t e b i e t d a l h t u h o s a e i b l t .

T e l s i c s o a t o i a i n i b l t i v l e u i e s t p o o o i r , a d h t o r t o g t h k y e p n e h u d a e e n n n i- n r n e e t o i e n h t p f a h a h n . i N t o s 't a e n i -y u -f c e u v l n . B t h n h w u d t? t s 't v n w r t e e' i f i g m n o i s e w r .

A s r l a l w s o g e o a t o i a i n i b l t t a t e S, r t i a d a a a. h r 's v e t e u g s a b w l i g o o e l s r o h i t r a i n l o i i n n e o n t o o t e o i l t l t o t e n e n t n t e e d o r t c s r i e r v d r . B t a e w t a I P h t e i s l k o l d e f h t d l a e f n r n e e t h t s i T r e t, c u t a f n i h r t e t n s m a h .

I i N t e s s s n e u i g o d i c s o e w o g o n , i w l n e t w r h r t k e e i e c o t e a s v s a e f h p o l m u o t e a e. n p s i l p a t a t e r a j d e s 't n e n t a v .

Peter Moon i a a t e i L g e- m t L n o L w e s.

n e n t e v c p o i e i N t s l y n a a g r u g m i i s a d a k e a a t o w t A s r l a a d n e n t o a f l c p r g t w e s. h c m a y s o d n s e d a t y o h c a m h t t a 't e u e, n h a s n e f o r r l n s, h t o y i h e t r a n e t s e n d w l a e o i s e w r .

T i i b n u . T e r m r u e f h B t o r n f l t a s e s s e a t e e r o t e i i a i n s o n o d n f l s, V r g a s n o h r o y i h m t r a .

i N t' o n o r d c m n s d i a m c . U d r h a i g " o i i s n o y i h i f i g m n ," t e o p n q o e i s w s a f a e i l . F l s a i g n i s r t c l a e n s e c l g l, u t e o t n s a e o t e g n r l y s o - a t o g B t o r n i d s r b d s e n n t s l e a a s m o h r y t m .

i N t' d f n e o u e t t t s h t e r- o- e r o t a e i e i T r e t a b u e f r n o e t u p s s. o a c o b r , b t e n w h b o e n b l c a a t a i a m s c r a n y a r i g i c o b r o n f r o s n e t. h l w a l i g i g q i p d o t a a d t' a r m i m s p a e . F r r c i a p r o e , a C u n n B t o r n i g i g q i p d o c p r g t n r n e e t.

e r- o- e r r f i i a w -e g d w r f r h i t r e i d s r . I b r e s h i n t o k b t t l o e n b g u i e s. r v t l , f w n h i d s r e t m t i l g l i T r e t t e s h n 0 e c n . N b d w u d e u p i e i t e r e i u e s e l v r 0 e c n . T r b t s f e r- o- e r r f i w s a r s t e u t a i n n e n t v r d y, n t a m a s o i s n T e i o e b t e e s f h u a d .

I t e i m n u t y a g t h s e s g t r u h o c u t, i e h s p o l m n i s e h i a d f n e s a t o p e r r t y e p r t . A a e r n l s w e , l w e s l a e a a g m n t a s n e i T r e t p i s m v e n o a y i y a k t t a t a e s t e e i d v d a l , n n o t e c u t a t e u s a t a p r i n e u r d o o s i u e n r n e e t.

f c u t n e s a d t a a h u a d o i s r b i g o n o d d y i e c s o e s t n g v n o e t, t i l e a d o m r s u i g r u e t l k t a .

W r e, h c u t i l o c u e h I P u t a e h t t e e , i t e y e f l n n s t a t e o y i h A t a l i f i g m n b a t o i a i n. h i o y s h t n S t a a k o l d e h m i t r e c n e t o s r t e r a e t n t u e t f o y i h i f i g m n i h m n i t r m y o b o l g d o o l t a m c t e c p l a i i y.

h c a s c a e n u h r s t o l a i i y n o v d n v r i y h t c p e s, n t a c u t h u h t e e r s o s s o l h v b e a a t -i f i g m n n t c o t e o o e c m c i e. i e d e n' h v a y n- o r- a e q i a e t. u t e w y o l i ? I i n' e e a a e h r 's n r n e e t n t n t o k.

u t a i n a i t u h r n u h r s t o l a i i y h n h U , B i a n n C n d . T e e' a i w h j d e m y e i l n t m v c o e t t e n e n t o a p s t o i r c g i i n f h s c a u i i y f h i t r e a d h n e t p o e t e v c p o i e s. u f c d i h n S t a d n e a l n w e g o t e i a w v o i f i g m n t a i B t o r n , a o r m y i d t a d o x e d y p t y.

f i e p r i t i r f s n t a m t u t m r r n d i g, t i l e d o o k a d o e p v d n e f h m s i e c l o t e r b e o t f h c s . A d o s b y r y h t h t i l u g i n' i t r e s v y.

Peter Moon s p r n r n o i -S i h a y n a y r .

h s s u k m. h p i a y s o t e i T r e t i e r n f r y t m t h h a t f h l t g t o i d w l a i g i m , T p o r m a d t e c p r g t a e i l.

I a o r u d r t n s h t t o s n m v e a e e n d w l a e b i N t u t m r a a y i e m m n , i w l b h r t i p e s s n a g m n s i e h t.

I i N t e s s s n e u i g o d i c s o e w o g o n , i w l n e t w r h r t k e e i e c o t e a s v s a e f h p o l m u o t e a e. n p s i l p a t a t e r a j d e s 't n e n t a v .

Peter Moon i a a t e i L g e- m t L n o L w e s.

19 Comments

MISaustralia welcomes and encourages reader comments. Please note that any comments posted will be subject to the MISaustralia Publication Guidelines.

Me

1/04/2009 1:34:08 PM

So do we start prosecuting Telstra every time a phone call is made by a Bikie now? Sue the RTA every time an armed robber makes a getaway on one of their roads? Please, this is a very thin argument...

MGH

1/04/2009 1:54:36 PM

I have to disagree with the author. While the man in the balaclava carrying the crowbar *may* be doing something illegal, it is NOT up to iinet to charge and incarcerate said person. iinet forwarded the complaints from the copyright holders to the police, just as they should have done. The copyright holders are just suing iinet because it is easier and cheaper than suing individual users, regardless of the innocent users that get caught in the net. I wouldn’t stand for the post office searching my mail for illegal dvd’s. I don’t see how this is any different.

Peter

1/04/2009 1:56:38 PM

If Peter Moon is a lawyer then I would hate him to act on a case of mine. Why? His argument against iiNet’s defense is based on the fact that P2P uses shared copyrighted material and therefore all P2P traffic is copyrighted material. I play World of Warcraft and patches for that are distributed by Blizzard’s P2P client updater. This is legal filesharing. How would my ISP determine what I am uploading or downloading via P2P? They would need to monitor my internet traffic, actually packet sniff and read my upstream/downstream data. As far as I’m aware, without a court order that is illegal. I think Peter Moon is suggesting that ISPs wiretap their customer’s illegally. Furthermore, we could take this argument to it’s logical conclusion and say that since so much internet traffic is illegal distribution of copyrighted material, all internet traffic must be monitored by ISPs. Would Peter Moon want any of his client’s case material intercepted and read in an attempt to determine whether his internet traffic is legitimate? Where do we draw the line? What about encryption? If file sharing becomes encrypted, would all encrypted traffic be suspect? Would all our online banking transactions need to be monitored by providing the encryption keys to our ISPs or the authorities? Perhaps Peter Moon would argue it’s only P2P, but what happens when another means is found and then another? What if material is encoded in innocuous images? Would we need to ban HTTP traffic? Ban all images on the Net? In essence what Peter Moon is suggesting is that we need to be monitored by the State via our ISPs. I guess I never thought I’d see the day when a lawyer is advocating the erosion of our liberty. But, here in Australia we don’t hava a Bill of Rights. The courts determine the legality or otherwise of any given situation. I fear this truly is the beginning of the end of our freedom.

Michael

1/04/2009 2:01:25 PM

This article is erronious, while there is circumstancial evidence of bit-torrent being used for downloading tv shows etc on it’s network. iiNet does not know, to the standard required to stand up in court and swear it, that those users reported by the movie companies were downloading movies at that time. At best they have server logs of which user matches with the IP address given. Any more logging is an invasion of the customer’s privacy and would open iiNet to lawsuits from customer’s unless authorised by court order for the Police. All internet traffic runs off packets, while you can make an educated guess that a packet addressed to port 61555 at a consumer’s IP is a bit-torrent packet, without inspecting the packet & joining it with the many others that complete the transfer (and not even then if the user has encryption enabled) you cannot tell if the user is downloading a movie or a linux ISO or the latest world of warcraft update (which uses it’s own version of bit-torrent for patches). Joining packets together ito make a file or inspecting the packet contents is a privacy invasion unless authorised by court order, hence why ISP’s don’t do it and only keep the minimum logs required by law - logs showing what user was connected to what IP at a particular time period.

goezer

1/04/2009 2:05:54 PM

Interesting that a lawyer would state that because something has the capacity to be used for illegal purposes, the very existance implies iy is being used for illegal activities. If that was the case then bongs, radar detectors etc should be illegal, but they are not. The law clearly states that it isn’t illegal to own the device/implement, just illegal to use it for illegal purposes. The iinet arguement that the files being transmitted via bit-torrent are in small packets and that these packets individually are not significant enough to constitute copyright infringement have some merit, technically (IT POV) true , they are mearly components or the whole file. While being in possession of the whole file is illegal, the individual packets are not(not significant enough). If this is so then what grounds would iinet have to stop the transport of these files. Yes they are a service that enables these packets to be transported, but the transport of something that isn’t illegal (to be decided) cannot be illegal. ps. i am not a lawyer just an IT geek..

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