Claims made by AFACT of delay refuted by iiNet

Claims that iiNet had attempted to delay the high-profile copyright case in the Federal Court recently made by a film and music industry spokesperson has received heavy denial from the Internet Service Provider.

In a statement an iiNet spokesperson said that “under no circumstances [had it] attempted to delay the Court proceedings for the current case involving the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT)”.

Following news that the court were to double the amount of time allocated to the case and that the hearings would be brought forward was something AFACT claimed as a victory. The increase in the allocation had been a response to attempts to delay the case by iiNet said the Federation at the time, which is a claim the ISP now deny.

A spokesperson for iiNet said “The reason the court dates were adjusted from February 2010 to November 2009 is that more dates became available, not due to a request made by AFACT. This arrangement suits us, so we have no reason to object.

Whilst the judge may consult with both parties to discuss availability (which could be influenced by factors such as other court cases), the case’s timetable is set by the courts – neither party has the authority to alter this. The only delays to the court process have been due to claim adjustments on AFACT’s part.”

A claim called ‘conversion’ has been removed from the case in the latest adjustment by the Federation.

The allegation that iiNet allowed users to download copies of the movies over its network thus taking advantage of  the benefits of holding the copyrights is what conversion suggests.

The spokesperson said that iiNet was “awarded costs for the cost of developing our defence against this claim and were given time to amend our defence accordingly” after it was pulled.

Source: ITNews.com.au