ISP iiNet has revealed today that it is working with a law firm to provide pro-bono legal services to the 4,700 customers alleged to have downloaded an infringing copy of Dallas Buyers Club and will soon get a letter in the mail from the studio behind the film.
Customers of iiNet affected by the pending law suits have been told that the company intends to provide free legal advice:
“If you do receive a letter you may want to get legal advice. iiNet is working with a law firm that has offered to provide pro-bono services for any of our customers. More details will be provided when agreement is reached on that front”…
The move is a sensible one. Not only does it entrench iiNet as a customer-friendly ISP that defends users’ rights, but it also should dissuade copyright holders from undertaking so-called ‘speculative invoicing’ – a point acknowledged by iiNet:
Speculative invoicing has always been a major concern for us. Because rights holders need to submit a draft letter to the Court before they contact our customers, we expect that the risk of speculative invoicing practices will be avoided…
We believe that these conditions may seriously disrupt the business case supporting speculative invoicing, enough to possibly discourage DBC, Voltage or other rights holders from taking similar action in future.
It’s good to see an Australian ISP standing up for consumers. Pitty the Government is doing its best to prevent Australians from having access to a free market for digital content.
