So maybe the ISP v Copyright Owners' fight isn't quite over yet
Not long ago I blogged the dispute between 4 major ISPs and the record labels over the Chinese site Listen4Ever.com - the legal proceedings were withdrawn after the site disappeared (one day after I blogged it all - dammit!). CNet are reporting that "A delicate detente is breaking down under pressure from peer-to-peer networks, placing two powerful industries on a collision course that could reshape the legal landscape for online file-swapping". So maybe it's not all over yet (what am I saying - of course it's not over yet. This is one source of tension that is bound to continue for some time yet....)
The basic issue goes back to the initial disputes over online copyright infringement. In some early cases (usually involving either playboy or scientology!) there were questions about secondary liability for copyright infringement over networks. Australia's Telstra v APRA case (that went all the way to the High Court) raised a similar issue (although there, the actual facts concerned music on hold - that wonder of modern technology). In the usual "negotiation between interests" that characterises copyright legislation reform, ISPs got an apparently not-bad deal - in the US, they submitted to a 'notice and take down' style law (the Australian legislation is far more vague - see section 39B Copyright Act - which provides that a carrier/ISP is "not taken to have authorised any infringement of copyright ... merely because another person uses the facilities ... provided" to infringe.

On a similar note, see also the National Journal Article, "The Digital Divide", on the analogous tension between copyright owners and technology providers/consumer electronics makers.