Some
5,000
Australians
are
expected
to
receive
a
letter
from
a
Hollywood
production
company
demanding
payment
for
illegal
downloads
of
its
film
"Dallas
Buyers
Club",
it
was
reported
on
Wednesday.
A
landmark
Federal
Court
ruling
ordered
several
Australian
internet
service
providers,
including
iiNet,
to
hand
over
the
identities
of
thousands
of
account
holders
whose
internet
connections
were
allegedly
used
to
share
the
Hollywood
film,
Fairfax
Media
reported.
Dallas
Buyers
Club
LLC
and
Voltage
Pictures
LLC
targeted
six
Australian
telcos
--
iiNet,
Internode,
Dodo,
Amnet,
Adam
Internet
and
Wideband
Networks
--
in
seeking
personal
details
associated
with
more
than
4,700
IP
addresses
that
were
used
to
share
the
movie
using
BitTorrent.
Courtesy
of
twitter
Michael
Bradley,
the
lawyer
representing
"Dallas
Buyers
Club",
starring
Matthew
McConaughey,
in
the
precedent-setting
piracy
case,
said
the
company
would
seek
compensation.
"Ultimately
for
the
owner
of
the
film
that's
what's
it's
about
because
they've
lost
a
lot
of
money," Xinhua
news
agency
quoted
him
as
telling
the
Australian
Broadcasting
Corporation
on
Wednesday.
The
US
companies
sent
letters
to
illegal
downloaders
claiming
they
were
liable
for
damages
of
up
to
$150,000
unless
settlement
fees
of
up
to
$7,000
were
paid.
The
chief
executive
of
industry
body,
Intellectual
Property
Awareness
Foundation,
Lori
Flekser,
was
pleased
with
the
landmark
piracy
judgment.
She
hoped
it
will
be
a
deterrent
to
piracy
which
affects
the
livelihood
of
Australia's
independent
filmmakers.
"Most
recently,
two
small
Australian
films,
'Wyrmwood' and
'The
Little
Death',
were
seriously
pirated,"
she
said.
"Not
when
they
were
in
the
cinemas
but
when
they
were
available
on
DVD.
So
it's
not
always
about
availability
and
access,
it's
simply
about
people
wanting
something
for
nothing."
Flekser
said
that
with
every
film
that
is
pirated,
potential
future
investors
are
scared
away,
draining
the
industry's
lifeblood.