They were asking for settlements of up to $US5000 per offence, or more in some cases. Did you download Dallas Buyers Club? Now they're taking their battle to Australia, applying to the Federal Court that it have iiNet and other local ISPs hand over the identities of the alleged pirates. Chief Regulatory Officer Steve Dalby told TorrentFreak that iiNet will oppose the move made by Dallas Buyers Club LLC. "iiNet would never disclose customer details to a third party, such as movie studio, unless ordered to do so by a court. We take seriously both our customers privacy and our legal obligations," Dalby says.

iiNet does not support piracy, but it is concerned about the way Dallas Buyers Club and its studio Voltage Pictures will use the information. A movie about a once frowned upon trade of pharmaceuticals is now hunting BitTorrent users. Dalby says that while it may seem reasonable for a movie studio to ask for the pirates identities, if would only be so, if they intended to use information fairly and let the alleged pirate defend themselves in court. "In this case, we have serious concerns about Dallas Buyers Club's intentions. We are concerned that our customers will be unfairly targeted to settle any claims out of court using a practice called 'speculative invoicing'," Dalby says. Award winning performance. Credit:Reuters

He is referring to a practice, where a company mails 'invoices' to the alleged copyright infringer to get a cash settlement while trying to discourage them from appearing in court. It was a controversial scheme, that did not survive legal scrutiny in the UK. Dalby says that because iiNet have opposed the Dallas Buyers Club LLC application for the identities, it will now be up to the Federal Court, whether iiNet should do so. It's expected that the hearing will take place early next year. If Dallas Buyers Club LLC were to win, Australians could be finding similar settlement notices in the mail and TorrentFreak believes it's likely other companies will follow. The discovery orders filed before the Federal Court want the names and contact details from five Aussie telcos: iiNet, Internode, Dodo, Amnet and Adam Internet.

The application comes as the federal government considers a range of proposals to curb illegal downloading by Australians. One key proposal would compel ISPs to block infringing websites. Another would compel telcos to curb illegal downloads by making it easier for rights holders to take the companies to court. AAP