Pretending To Buy a Latte?
Internet cafes in Australia have been put on alert after a Sydney cafe was raided by federal police. The cafe, Interville Technology, had been giving its customers access to a vast library of pirated music and movies for a flat fee. Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), an organization set up by the country’s music industry to fight piracy, cooperated with the authorities in carrying out the raid. MIPI claimed that multiple other cafes in the area had been engaged in similar a practice, suggesting that the piracy was not limited to a single location. The raid and its aftermath signal that the international music industry is continuing its aggressive, and sometimes controversial, effort to combat piracy.
This raid, which went down in late December, is the first of its kind against an internet cafe in Australia. There have apparently been no subsequent raids, implying that the single raid was intended as a warning to other cafés hosting illegal content. More recently, the MIPI has issued warnings and guidelines to other cafes around the country in a pamphlet entitled “Internet Cafes – Are You And Your Customers Doing The Right Thing?” The pamphlet, available on the organization’s website, explains copyright law and threatens criminal and civil action against individuals and businesses caught pirating music. This includes establishments whose customers download pirated music or movies without the knowledge or permission of the business owner. In Australia, pirates can face hefty fines and up to 5 years in jail.
