• Ramon Lobato, Julian Thomas

12 February 2010The copyright wars are more than just a matter for the courts, write Julian Thomas and Ramon Lobato in Inside Story

THE PERTH-BASED internet service provider iiNet, which won a remarkable victory against Hollywood in the federal court last week, used to advertise its various broadband plans on commercial radio. Their ads began, “The question is, how big is a Gig?” The answer: “A Gig is about 500 hi-res photos or about 300 songs or five episodes of the Golden Girls. At iiNet we explain this to you so you can choose a broadband plan that’s right for you… it’s not the size of the Gig, it’s how you choose to use it.”

During the case, iiNet’s CEO Michael Malone was apologetic about the ad. Was the last sentence the key point – that subscribers control what they do online? Or was iiNet really saying to its customers, we can help you steal Golden Girls episodes, and any other movies or music you want, and we’ll let you know when you’ve reached your quota? Fortunately for Australian ISPs, Justice Cowdroy thought differently: the Golden Girls reference was not an incitement to piracy, but a joke about the improbability of anyone wanting to download the Golden Girls...

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Photo: Rene de Paula