COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy says he won't push for new laws to tackle illegal file-sharing while the movie and internet industries are unable to work together.

Senator Conroy said it was disappointing that the industries had ended up in court rather than working together to solve the problem.



"It's always disappointing when situations like this end up in court," he told ABC website Hungry Beast.



"I think that a mature approach by both the movie industry and the internet industry – sitting down, having a conversation and coming up with a code of practice – is the absolutely preferable outcome."



Last week internet provider iiNet won a major legal battle over whether it should be held responsible for its customers downloading content illegally.



The case was an attempt by movie studios to force internet providers into policing the downloads of their users.



Senator Conroy said he still hoped the industries would work together to find a solution.



"I've been trying for two years to encourage the sectors to have a dialogue and they've got themselves into a court battle," he said.



"But what I would still hope is that we can bring them together to sit down and settle their differences, create a code of practice that actually protects both parties."



He said such talks would be better than the Government introducing new laws to curb file-sharing.



Links



Senator Conroy interview on Hungry Beast – http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/isp-...