AFACT raises concern over unlimited ISP plans

"Heyyyy the goons in AFUKT are orrite by me. I mean they promote drugs and violence as entertainment, they sell murderous junk foods and drinks so the young get hooked in the sugar, fat and salt ..."

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Sep 25, 2009 7:15 AM

Advertising could be "misconstrued".

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft has voiced concerns that AAPT's unlimited off-peak broadband plans could promote illegal movie downloads.

AFACT executive director Adrianne Pecotic told iTnews the federation had sought clarification from Australia's third largest telco over its position on illegal downloading following the airing of a national television commercial promoting the unlimited plans.

"The circumstances of the advertisement can be misconstrued and our concern is that, in the context of the advertising, AAPT have said your teenagers can download as many movies as they want overnight without any clarification," Pecotic said.

"They [AAPT] need to make [it] clear that the movies should be sourced from legitimate sites and that they are not encouraging illegal downloads in the context of their promotion.

But an AAPT spokeswoman told iTnews that the telco "[does] not in any way condone illegal downloading.

"In our television advertisements we clearly state that AAPT does not condone such practices," she said.

"At about the 10-second mark on the Unlimited Broadband 30second television commercial, [the words] 'AAPT does not condone illegal downloading' appears along the bottom of the screen."

"Customers can also view our official Copyright Policy and Acceptable Use Policy on our website which specifically states that customers may not store, send or distribute confidential information, copyright material or other content which is subject to third party intellectual property rights, unless they have a lawful right to do so," the spokeswoman said.

Pecotic did not believe AAPT had "misconstrued" its advertising intentionally.

But she said it was important "in the context of providing broadband plans and schemes that ISPs make it clear to their customers that they should not be involved in illegal downloading."

AFACT is representing the film industry in a case against ISP iiNet in the Federal Court that attempts to hold service providers responsible for any illegal downloads on their networks.

In documents filed with the court, the federation claimed a link between ISP iiNet upgrading the service plans of heavy-internet users and the proliferation of film piracy, but was unable to elaborate due to a court order.

The case is due to begin on October 6th.

Comments: 16

Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.

MungBurger Sep 25, 2009 8:02 AM	AFACT must be run by Statler & Waldorf (Grumpy old Muppets).
anonymous Sep 25, 2009 8:39 AM	Or perhaps AFACT is run by some very well paid corporate legal nitpickers and lobbyists on behalf of Big Content Corporations? Just kidding - we know they must all be really lovable underneath.
HyRax Sep 25, 2009 9:03 AM	(blinks) People download illegally? I'd love to know how much data of anything you could actually download in the unlimited period. It would be so oversubscribed that it would crawl...
asj Sep 25, 2009 9:35 AM	AAPT have a good network that is heavily subscribed by business users during peak times, leaving lots of available pipe available during off peak. I doubt it will be oversubscribed even during the unlimited period. I use off-peak downloads of about 40gb a month with Optus and it is just as quick during the off peak as during peak.
jamesm Sep 25, 2009 9:37 AM	You can follow AFACT reasoning here; bring up iiNet's plans and insinuate that high bandwidth plans are used only by people doing naughty things. Even if they lose this case, they've now put this into the public psyche which makes it a little more palatable in their next case. AFACT have conveniently forgotten that people can download movies, music and other large files legally.
jab_au Sep 25, 2009 10:19 AM	"AFACT have conveniently forgotten that people can download movies, music and other large files legally." Yes funny that, sounds like they are pulling at straws for any excuse. If they were moving forward with plans to sell content as digital downloads then High quotas and high bandwidth would be needed to deliver.
Sams Sep 25, 2009 11:21 AM	"AAPT have said your teenagers can download as many movies as they want overnight without any clarification," So my usual car-related analogy: If we follow AFACT's way of thinking, any advertisement for cars should clarify that drivers should not drive too fast, part illegally, run people over, attempt a trans-atlantic crossing, etcetera, etcetera ...
freman Sep 25, 2009 11:59 AM	To re-phrase another comment I made. Jeeze "AFACT" Don't you think it might be possible that the people who are after unlimited plans might be oh I don't know... purchasing digital content, like for example steam games that are 4-8 gigs in size? Or albums on iTunes?
frances Sep 25, 2009 12:30 PM	I don't see anywhere in AFACT's statement that they do not condone child pornography. Therefore using their logic, they condone it?
Zaraphrax Sep 25, 2009 2:24 PM	Of course AFACT would have a problem with this. Because, you know, anyone who uses any more than a few gigs of data a month is a pirate. What a load of bollocks. It's called PROGRESS, AFACT, not piracy. I don't see why Australia should be condemned forever to sub-standard internet access, when there are countries like Japan who have unlimited, blisteringly fast connections. Do their authorities get their panties in a bunch over this sort of stuff? No. Not to the same effect, because they aren't STUPID.
ZebedeeAU Sep 25, 2009 2:40 PM	This article should be viewed in the proper context. AFACT have worked out that if they get themselves all cranky, it'll end up in the media, which then gives AFACT exposure. Really, the issue of the ISP's advertising is none of their damn business, and they'd do better to keep their noses out of it. But that's not likely to happen any time soon. What people choose to do with their Internet connection is a matter for them. Organisations like AFACT having a whinge because it "may" be used for one purpose or other doesn't really make any sense.
armadillo Sep 25, 2009 4:22 PM	AFACT represents would could easily be one of the dumbest industries in the world. They sue their customers for downloading a product they don't sell. I actually agree that people should be paid for the work they do so I don't mind paying for movie downloads. In fact I purchase a lot. But iTunes in Australia doesn't have a lot. iTunes in the US has movies in HD with surround sound. It's very hard to purchase in the US store (possible, but requires effort). That's not Apple's fault, it's the movie and music industry's fault. They actually make it hard to purchase their products, saddle them with DRM (that also takes time and effort to remove from all my purchases, can be done, called requiem) and then they are surprised some people prefer the free version that doesn't come with limitations. How dumb do they think we are? As dumb as they are? Of course, as mentioned earlier, in Japan they have uncapped 100mbps lines in their houses (sickeningly cheap too), and as a result they have lots of on-demand TV shows, and movies, etc. Australia is still in the dark ages and here we have an industry actually complaining about uncapped Internet!
cootified Sep 25, 2009 7:09 PM	I dont get it, why are punishing people who consume? Isn't the basis of capitalism the consumer? So what are you saying? use less? or pay less?
laman Sep 25, 2009 8:28 PM	Countries like US, UK, HK, etc have unlimited Internet traffic for a long long time, and there is not such concern about illegal downloading. Why should this happen in Australia?
surelars Sep 26, 2009 7:28 PM	"unlimited broadband"? What a concept. Here (Scandinavia), the idea of having a broadband connection that is limited in how much you can transfer would be ludicrous. There would be no customers for such a thing. My in-laws (70+ age group) have "unlimited broadband" - and, no, their not big-time pirates ;-) That's not to say we do not have record- or movie-companies who believe they can stop technology, time, or the earth from spinning. But, really - making a case against flat-fee broadband, that's too funny.
Jahm Mitt Sep 26, 2009 7:33 PM	Heyyyy the goons in AFUKT are orrite by me. I mean they promote drugs and violence as entertainment, they sell murderous junk foods and drinks so the young get hooked in the sugar, fat and salt habit; they stick in soooooooo many adds amongst all their programs and then they say "Ohhhhh you mustn't download that" - well if it wasn't free on the net, people wouldn't have either bought it or put up with their bullshit on free to air etc., anyway.