Michael Speck told a Federal Court hearing on Tuesday that Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) had been "tailing" Nikki Hemming’s premises on a "continuous basis" for several months until 11am on 24 May.
The unit conducted the surveillance as part of its efforts to determine who controlled the peer-to-peer software Kazaa. The issue is key to the music industry’s litigation against Sharman Networks, associated companies and individuals over alleged copyright-infringing behaviour.
Speck told ZDNet Australia "personal surveillance" of Hemming had been conducted but finished some time ago.
"She personally wasn’t a subject, rather the premises associated with her were. [We were] conducting an investigation into a shadowy organisation hiding behind a veil of secrecy and surveillance is a normal practice," he said.
Speck told Sharman’s solicitors that he ordered the surveillance of Hemming’s premises to stop after finding out where the general manager had moved to.
"Given the nature of Kazaa, we conducted a range of investigations aimed at getting to the bottom of who controlled Kazaa. We stopped the surveillance when we confirmed her new address. We’re not conducting any surveillance at present," he said.
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