The iiNet paper suggests an independent body should be responsible for verifying claims of copyright infringement and determining any penalty: "iiNet has developed a model which addresses ISP concerns but one we think remains attractive to all participants, including the sustainable strategy of an impartial referee for the resolution of disputes and the issue of penalties for offenders."

The paper suggests that simply removing an Internet connection without independent oversight is "inappropriate" and recommends a graduated scale of demerit points, fines, shaping or court action for serious repeat offenders: "Infringements can be ranked as minor (say, single instances), major (say multiple instances of different files) or serious (at a commercial level). Each level having prescribed penalties. Repeat infringements may require further definition -- say a minimum period of one week between detections, or examples of sharing multiple files."

"We believe that an independent umpire is the only way we can ensure natural justice and protect customer privacy, while allowing copyright owners their rights to pursue alleged infringers," Malone said.