Some updates

So I have fallen a bit behind in my promised extended discussion of the iiNet case. I’m halfway through the full judgment, but have unfortunately been sidetracked with some other work-related tasks.

There has been no shortage of interesting copyright judgments in the last week. In addition to the iiNet decision, there has been the decision of Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd v EMI Songs Australia Pty Limited [2010] FCA 29 (where the band Men At Work was found to have infringed Larrikin’s copyright in the children’s song ‘Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree’, by using the flute riff in their famous ‘Down Under’ song), and on Monday, in Telstra Corporation Limited v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 44, a single judge of the Federal Court held that copyright does not subsist in Telstra’s Yellow Pages and White Pages directories (choosing to follow IceTV rather than Desktop Marketing).

These are all important decisions, and I have every intention of getting to them (for reading and blogging in detail) as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you are interested in reading some updates and discussions, I’d recommend viewing Nic Suzor’s blog on the iiNet decision (1, 2, and 3) and Warwick Rothnie’s post on the Telstra decision.

EFA submission on minimum legitimacy requirements for mandatory internet filering

The Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) submission to the Australian Government Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) on what measures would be needed to make mandatory online filtering legitimate, particularly from a transparency perspective, is now available online. You can view a summary or download the submission in PDF from the EFA website.

I am happy to say that I played a small role (together with Nic Suzor and Irene Graham) in putting this submission together. I hope that it will have some impact in helping to make the proposed filter (if it is indeed implemented) more transparent, and as a result, the government more accountable to the Australian people as far as internet filtering goes.