Australia: ISPs forced to block torrenting sites

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Australia: ISPs forced to block torrenting sites

In a first for Australia, our courts have ordered ISPs to block the websites of a number of torrenting sites. In Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [2016] FCA 1503, Justice Nicholas ordered a collection of ISPs to block the websites of a number of well-known bittorrenting sites. The sites included in the blocking order are The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and SolarMovie.

The judge also put in place a mechanism for allowing the orders to be extended to other domains, in order to overcome the actions of infringing websites in constantly changing their URL addresses. However, this did not include allowing the copyright owners the ability to block sites without court approval.

The orders were made under the new provisions directed to blatant infringement under S115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), which was inserted into the Act in June 2015.

While the orders may help in blocking the inexperienced user from downloading illegal material, the legal solution may be more symbolic than practical and may not stop ISP customers from bittorrenting material in breach of copyright. For example, the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) is likely to easily circumvent the orders. In addition global DNS servers can also be used to overcome any ISP blocking.

Of course, having the courts mandating website blocking has led to opponents calling this the first step to implementing a Great Australian Firewall in breach of civil liberties.

Peter Treloar



Shelston IP

Level 21, 60 Margaret Street

Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Tel: +61 2 9777 1111

Fax: +61 2 9241 4666

email@shelstonip.com

www.shelstonip.com

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Florina Firaru discusses making new connections, the art of flower arranging, and the biggest misconception about IP
The firm, which appointed three IP partners from A&O Shearman, wants to develop a tier one practice in Europe
The England and Wales appeals court handed down its judgment just seven working days after hearing the trademark dispute involving pharma company Merck
A host of law firms from across Europe and beyond helped bring the streaming technology dispute to a close
Hugues Derème, director general of the Benelux IP Office, unveils his vision for the region, how to improve IP awareness, and use of AI
A copyright win for AI firm Anthropic and a new executive order against law firm Jenner & Block were also among the top talking points this week
A principal at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner explains how AI tools, including DeepIP, can position the firm to help clients
The firm explains why AI-empowered data analytics could make it a more efficient advocate for its clients
Penelope Aspinall, of IP wellbeing charity Jonathan’s Voice, explains why managers should take a three-tiered approach to looking after workers’ mental health
Heath Hoglund talks about the value proposition of patent pools and why it went ahead with its first-ever series of pool meetings in China
Gift this article