AN AUSTRALIAN company trying to sue people for illegally downloading Hollywood movie Kill the Irishman has extensive links to internet pornography, raising suspicions that the legal action may in fact be a stalking horse for a larger assault on behalf of the porn industry.

As reported by Fairfax earlier this month, Brisbane law firm Lloyds Solicitors, acting on behalf of the Gold Coast-based Movie Rights Group, has written to internet service providers including Telstra, iiNet, Internode and Exetel seeking the details of thousands of people alleged to have illegally downloaded the crime thriller Kill the Irishman ins May.

Matthew Clapham - part owner of the company Movie Rights Group.

An investigation by Fairfax has now revealed that the New Zealand-born brothers behind Movie Rights Group are major players in the internet porn industry, raising the possibility that their real motive is to sue thousands of Australians who have downloaded porn without paying for it.

Melbourne copyright lawyer Anthony Palmer said the legal action brought by Movie Rights Group on behalf of Los Angeles-based distributor Lightning Entertainment appeared to be designed to establish a business model that could have widespread potential in relation to other copyright breaches. ''It looks to me very much like they will attempt to establish that model with Kill the Irishman and then they'll try to roll it out to other copyright holders. It's potentially very lucrative,'' he said.