A landmark court battle regarding copyright infringement that has seen a coalition of both film and TV companies fighting the broadband internet service provider iiNet will now see the final decision fast-tracked by the Australian Federal Court.

Thursday 4th February is the expected date that has now been set for the ruling on one the most observed test copyright court cases in Australia.

October 2009 saw the beginning of the Federal Court trial of iiNet, the broadband internet service provider based in Perth, and although the trial was over by the end of the following month it wasn’t until later this year that some form of verdict was expected and many believed that it may drag over into next year. It has now been indicated by Justice Dennis Cowdroy that it is time the courts gave their verdict.

iiNet have been accused of authorizing the infringement of copyrighted materials by allowing its network to be used for the illegal sharing of copyrighted TV shows and movies by its customers and in November 2008 the film industry, backed by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) launched its legal action against the broadband ISP.

In the current digital age this case has been seen as one of the most compelling tests of the Australian copyright laws and Stephen Conroy, the minister for communication has advised that before looking into bringing any new legislation out the government should wait for the outcome of the iiNet case.

Many of the worlds leading industries have been paying close attention to the iiNet litigation, although the music industry has so far shown no interest in the case. One of the executives John Kennedy, a CEO and the IFPI chairman said “The Australian government has been willing to engage in the subject [of a "graduated response" policy], has understood the subject and I thought they were going to act. But they’ll have to wait until this piece of litigation pans out,” he told journalists in a Jan. 21 conference call to unveil the IFPI “Digital Music Report 2010.”

Source - Billboard