(Credit: CBSi)

The US has been victim to "copyright trolls" for some time — it was only a matter of time before the idea reached Australia.

The gambit's premise is simple enough: a firm acts as an intermediary for a company that wishes to protect its copyright. Said firm then sets up a honeypot on a torrent swarm, recording internet protocol (IP) addresses that share the file as they go. A preliminary discovery request is made and internet service providers (ISPs) cough up who the IP belongs to.

A letter is then sent out to the user demanding a "settlement" fee, usually of a few thousand dollars, or the accused will be pulled into court. Given that legal fees are considerably greater, the end user, whether guilty or not, is pushed into "settling" to avoid the legal tussle to clear their name. It's easy money for the price of a threat, and something remarkably similar to blackmail.

Still, it's apparently legal, despite the potential misleading evidence involved. Misleading, because one IP doesn't necessarily reveal a single perpetrator. A single IP address could easily cover many people within one household, let alone business, and open Wi-Fi spots can be abused by many. Such legal maneuvers suggest that the owner of the internet connection should be held responsible, whether or not they have control over other peoples' access of said connection.

It's like saying if you lend your friend a car, and they happen to rob a bank, it's your fault.

Ars Technica has done an excellent job of covering such happenings in the US and UK, finding that of late some judges are getting wiser to the abuse of the legal system and identification issues.

Traditionally, copyright infringement cases in Australia have targeted companies involved in piracy or individuals selling counterfeit copies of copyrighted materials, rather than individual downloaders. That appears set to change.

The smell of easy money, though, has clearly wafted down south, with the Queensland-based company "Movie Rights Group" grasping the copyright troll mantle with both hands, targeting some 9000 individual Australian internet users for downloading the movie Kill the Irishman.

Have you received one of these letters in Australia? Write to us at cnet@cnet.com.au.

The new firm was outed on Exetel CEO John Linton's blog, after he was approached by the Movie Rights Group. The story was consequently followed up by Renai LeMay at Delimiter, who has recently posted two follow ups here and here, and appears to be leading the investigation into the new copyright entity — keep your eyes turned that way for developing news.

With iiNet and AFACT set to showdown in the High Court in December, it looks to be an interesting time for Australian copyright law.