Australian Copyright Troll Rumored To Have Shut Down 67
An anonymous reader writes "Remember how a shadowy group arose a few months back with the promise of suing thousands of Australians for allegedly pirating movies? ... Well, it looks like the effort has bit the dust as quickly as it was kicked off, with the organization's vice president of sales and marketing leaving and its website shut down. Sounds like that bright future of mega-lawsuits for Internet piracy wasn't so bright after all."
There's a time for silence (Score:5, Interesting)
The industry is getting just about everything it wants from almost every government in the world where a meaningful percentage of the population has access to high-speed internet.
This isn't the time or place to make the sheeple nervous by having a front company for the entertainment industry grab the home and life savings of some sweet old granny because a grandchild "stole" a half hour cartoon show.
They were one step below dodgy lawyers (Score:5, Interesting)
Perhaps the legal firm they were employing in Brisbane finally convinced them it would be difficult to have a shotgun approach to sending out writs without going to jail for demanding money with menaces and contempt of court. I'm not a lawyer either, but when I described what this idiot at the Gold Coast was trying to do he considered it to be insane.
Re:Probably didn't help... (Score:5, Interesting)
Where are the $5 new release DVDs? We are charged closer to $25 which is why Australians pirate so many movies and TV shows. The price will only come down if regions are abolished to introduce competition.
Re:Unsurprising (Score:5, Interesting)
The catch is, Australia is loser pays. Which means in this kind of extortions game, lose just one case and everyone else will use that exact same defence and you lose every case. Those losses of course means you pay for your lawyer, their lawyer and court costs ie judge et al. Then it is also possible to file counter suit for psychological harm brought about by that attack in the courts, so really really dangerous game bound to blow up in the faces of the criminals who attempt it.
Re:Unsurprising (Score:4, Interesting)
The catch is, Australia is loser pays. Which means in this kind of extortions game, lose just one case and everyone else will use that exact same defence and you lose every case. Those losses of course means you pay for your lawyer, their lawyer and court costs ie judge et al. Then it is also possible to file counter suit for psychological harm brought about by that attack in the courts, so really really dangerous game bound to blow up in the faces of the criminals who attempt it.
Exactly, due to Australia's libel laws, you're up for more then just the winners court costs. They can counter sue for making a false accusation. This kind of thing has turned many legal issues into Mexican stand-offs (Victorian stand-offs) that have lasted for years.
Whilst this system pretty flawed, it does keep the Shyster Lawyer population down by making frivolous law suits too risky for the average person, thus depleting their food supply.