iiNet lawyers today sought to discredit the method by which Dallas Buyers Club LLC collected internet protocol (IP) addresses of those it claimed had downloaded and shared versions of its film of the same name.
The internet service provider (ISP) is one of a handful resisting rights holder attempts to obtain customer details attached to IP addresses Dallas Buyers Club claimed were involved in copyright infringement.
iiNet has challenged the evidence provided by DBC on a number of ground, including the method used to identify whether a particular file shared over a peer-to-peer file sharing network is a copy of the Dallas Buyers Club film.
The Federal Court in Sydney today heard details of how DBC used software by German company Maverickeye UG to detect copyright infringing downloads of its film.
Daniel Macek, one of three Maverickeye employees, was flown to Sydney to give expert testimony on the method of collection, which has so far garnered around 4200 IP addresses.
iiNet counsel sought detail on how the software calculates the time at which an IP address is recorded. This timestamp allows the ISP to work out which account holder had been assigned that address at that particular time.
The ISP's lawyers put to Macek that the time linked to the IP address was when the Maverick system assembled packets of information, rather than the time of user download.
This would mean the IP address might not line up with the account holder listed at the time of infringement, they argued.
Macek said he did not understand the system to that degree, as he had not written its code.
iiNet counsel also argued that the ISP was unable to verify the reliability and accuracy of the software without being let in on the process of IP address collection.
Wait for anti-piracy code
iiNet's counsel suggested the court wait to rule on whether the ISP should hand over the requested customer details to DBC until after the Government's proposed anti piracy code comes into effect in April.
They argued it would be "unbalanced" for infringers of a particular film to be targeted prior to the scheme's introduction.
Justice Nye Perram entertained the proposal but is yet to make a ruling.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
