Australians who have downloaded illegal movies face the real threat of being arrested as Hollywood goes looking for someone to blame after losing a major Internet copyright case against local ISP iiNet lawyers have warned.They claim that after Hollywood lost similar cases in the USA and the UK they chose to target individuals instead of corporations.
More than 140,000 consumers in the USA who allegedly downloaded illegal movies have been served with notices to appear in court. In the UK Richard O’Dwyer is facing extradition to the USA.
O’Dwyer who ran a movie download site is facing 10 years in jail if convicted.
Smarthouse has been told that the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has lists of tens of thousands of Australians who have downloaded movies illegally in Australia.
AFACT, who is facing legal bills of over $18 Million after losing their recent breach of copyright case in the Australian High Court, claim they are determined to cut out illegal downloads of movies and that prosecution of individuals is an option.
Kimberly Heitman, a spokesperson for Electronic Frontiers Australia, claims that Hollywood studios that backed the recent case against iiNet will now turn on individuals.
Individuals “will be hit with costly legal action” he said, and that Hollywood will target “both young and old” and not discriminate between ages.
He said that Hollywood will not stop at just individuals they will also target parents who have allowed their children to download illegal movies.
