The total value of pirated software in Australia reached $739 million in 2011, amounting to 23 per cent of all of software installed in the country, according to software education organisation, Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Recently, the highest court in Australia unanimously dismissed AFACT’s appeal that ISP iiNet was accountable for the bittorrent file-sharing occurring on its network. It was the final skirmish in the entertainment industry’s three-year fight to try and change the role of the ISP in its fight against piracy.

Following last week's Backspin, reader Alex Gonzales (Sweetwater, Texas) wrote to me: "Just read your SOPA article and I guess I'm just not seeing the big picture. If the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) could put an end to online piracy and stop a lot of those damn viruses, maybe even stop hackers -- what's bad about that? You say bad for business, bad for Internet -- but how? How is stopping/policing the bad stuff on the Internet bad? Give me some real reasons as to why [SOPA/PIPA] is bad. And don't tell me to go read the SOPA/PIPA bills in their entirety."

Hollywood studios, recording labels and internet service providers have created a program to alert internet subscribers when their accounts are used to access movies, songs and other content that entertainment companies consider unauthorised.

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has decided to appeal to the High Court after its copyright infringement case against iiNet was squashed by the Full Bench of the Federal Court.

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft has lost its appeal in the copyright case against Perth-based ISP, iiNet. But it hasn't conceded that all is lost.

A damning report commissioned by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) on movie theft’s impact on the economy will do little to discourage film piracy online, according to Internet advocacy group, Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA).

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has dismissed iiNet’s legal content distribution platform, Freezone, in the Full Federal Court.

You might not realize it, but two out of every 10 of your co-workers might be using pirated software, according to industry statistics. You might be, too, for that matter, particularly if you work in manufacturing or at a small or midsize company with 100 to 500 PCs. You just might not know it.