A 2010 memo from the US Embassy in Canberra to the White House, published by Wikileaks, warned that the rollout of the National Broadband Network would worsen the levels of copyright theft in Australia.
The comment came in a cable reporting the outcome of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft’s Federal Court case against ISP iiNet.
AFACT failed to convince the Federal Court in February 2010 that iiNet had authorised its users’ copyright infringement by failing to pass on notices provided by AFACT.
The cable noted that, as a result of the loss, AFACT would increase pressure on the Government to make law changes.
“The hope for AFACT and the big studios was that a favourable decision would have established an international precedent that could have forced ISPs to tightly police the activities of their customers,” the cable said.
“The problem will persist and probably worsen with the advent of Australia’s high-speed National Broadband Network, as the speeds at which copyright theft can take place will literally multiply.”
Another US diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks in its latest onslaught reveals that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned US economic officials in March 2007 that the then Howard Government decision to sell Telstra would enable the telco to increase its market dominance, especially in fixed Internet services.
