Have you downloaded a copy of mob thriller Kill The Irishman? If so, your ISP could be forced to hand your details over to the film's copyright holder.

Australian internet service provider (ISP) Exetel says it has been approached by a firm acting on behalf of the film's copyright holder Lightning Entertainment and asked if it would be able to hand over the names and addresses of internet users.

Exetel boss John Linton says the Movie Rights Group – a Gold Coast-based organisation representing the interests of Lightning Entertainment – approached his company’s lawyers asking whether Exetel would be able to provide the names and addresses of 150 of its IP users were an Australian court to issue a subpoena.

And he says the Movie Rights Group claims to have a list of 9,000 Australian IP addresses allegedly connected to illegal downloading of Lightning's films including Kill The Irishman, which stars Christopher Walken.

Mr Linton told ABC News Online the Movie Rights Group "seems to be the sort of legal practice that is at the arse end of the legal edifice".

He said that if the group was able to get a subpoena, Exetel would be forced to hand over the requested information if it was available.

However he said no request had actually been made for customer details, and this could not happen under general commercial law.

"It was an enquiry of Exetel's legal advisers and, as far as I know, went no further than attempting to establish what capability in terms of retention of various operational records Exetel might have in place," he said.

Mr Linton also distanced his company from the potentially illegal activities of its users.

"What other people's actions bring to them is nothing to do with Exetel," he said.

Getting illegal downloaders' details would allow film companies to take action against them directly.

Film companies have previously focused legal action over internet piracy against Australian ISPs; in 2010, iiNet won a case against the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) which was representing entertainment companies.

The Federal Court ruled iiNet should not be held responsible for its users illegally downloading movies and TV shows, and AFACT's appeal against the decision failed earlier this year.

But in a blog post, first reported by Australian technology website Delimiter, Mr Linton suggested movie companies were taking a different tack by targeting individual internet users.

"Perhaps Lightning Entertainment has reached an agreement with AFACT along the lines of AFACT continuing to target ISPs and Lightning now targeting end users as has been the practice in the USA, from what I know of the issue," Mr Linton wrote.

In the blog post, published on Exetel's website but behind a paywall, Mr Linton suggested the Movie Rights Group's positioning could be part of a "US extortion scam" but said it looked to be "real" and "properly thought through".

"What may or may not transpire from here is not possible, at least for me, to assess," he wrote.

"However it will reduce the smugness felt by the more blatant of the illegal downloaders that they will never have to face up to the consequences of their actions ... perhaps they will at some future time?

"If this group launch 9,000 individual lawsuits demanding money with menaces against Australian internet users in the not too distant future I think a lot of attitudes to illegal downloading will change ... if only by parents."

According to its website, the Movie Rights Group "provides content owners with a range of methods to protect and enforce their rights and attempt to reduce the piracy of their copyrighted material".

The group is yet to respond to a request for comment from ABC News Online.

But Delimiter says it has spoken to the company's vice-president of sales and marketing, Gordon Walker, who confirmed the action on behalf of Lightning but said his group was not in contact with AFACT.

"Walker confirmed the company had contacted all major ISPs in Australia seeking information on users who had allegedly infringed copyright online," the website reported.