Currently, several music companies in Australia are involved in legal action, trying to get universities to give them information that would allow them to pursue alleged copyright perpetrators.
Nor is Australia the only country where this is an issue. In the United States, the peak industry body has filed a lawsuit against four university students who allegedly operated file-search services on the school's internal networks.
While actions such as these can be fairly limited in nature, they serve notice that the music and film industries are prepared to target all parties that they believe are involved in copyright infringement activity. The move has obvious ramifications for companies that allow peer-to-peer file-swapping and similar activities on their networks. Any corporate or technology use policy that does not explicitly prohibit copyright infringing activity must consequently be quickly amended.
What do you think? Should corporate policies that do not already do so be amended to prevent copyright infringing behaviour such as peer-to-peer file-swapping?
Another disturbing development last week was the revelation that a New Zealand Internet service provider had attempted--through its terms and conditions of service--to claim intellectual property rights over any content transferred over its network. The move reinforces the need for individuals and businesses to carefully consider the legal ramifications of any contract signed with an Internet service provider. The consequences of not doing so could be ugly.
Have you carefully examined your ISP contract? Did you find anything unacceptable? If so, did you negotiate it out of the contract, leave it alone or sign with another ISP? Let us know at edit@zdnet.com.au.
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