7.1 Communications going to infringement
269 The Aristocrat companies submit that many of the communications contained in Exhibit A1 constitute "instances of unguarded communications that make plain the true nature of the joint venture's trade (a counterfeiting operation)". A large number of email communications were extracted and put to the respondents' witnesses in cross examination. In this section, I will outline the most relevant of those communications.
270 The first relevant document was an email tendered as a separate exhibit from Mr Andrews to a person described as "Aldo" in the "To" line. This email was dated 9 August 2002 and had been printed from a disk drive that was seized from Mr Andrews' premises in the execution of the Anton Piller order. The email discussed options for acquiring artwork. The relevant parts are as follows:
There are three options for artwork. The first and most cost effective is to supply good quality second hand art work with game prom chips
Second hand artwork in stock as follows …
Second choice is to provide Digital artwork of the artwork panels - This produces artwork that is the same as the Aristocrat artwork but is not screen printed (Its usually a bit hard to tell except the original screen printed artwork is a bit sharper)
…
Third choice is to provide the proper product that is screen printed but again the cost escalates …
271 In cross-examination, Mr Andrews strongly denied that the "second choice" outlined in this email was a reference to an option of copying Aristocrat artwork by some digital method. He said that as the email was from 2002, he did not recall what the reference to providing the "proper product" meant in the "third choice".
272 The next relevant document was an undated email from Mr Andrews to the email addresses "lmn48@hotmail.com" (belonging to a Mr Nevada, a business partner of the Joint Venture) and "monica-linda@terra.com" which states in relevant part:
I'm sorry but we cant get the slant tops out this week because of some parts etc but have booked them to be loaded for next Thursday to make the ship cutting off on the 4/3.
This will also give us the opportunity to change some of the games around to try to give you some that you dont have there. If you find any that work OK we could send you a set of art work to match the game and you could just copy the game chips, make some additional new artwork and convert some of your existing machines in your sites to these games.
273 In cross-examination, Mr Andrews accepted that this email appeared to contain a suggestion from him that if Mr Nevada liked some of the games that Mr Andrews sent him, Mr Andrews would be able to send him more artwork and Mr Nevada would be able to copy corresponding game chips. He stated that the fact that Mr Nevada would copy games in South America concerned him now, "but everybody did it in South America - they're serial counterfeiters over there".
274 The next relevant document is an email chain contained in the tender bundle between Mr Andrews, Mr Allam and a Mr Richard Foote dated 9 and 10 November 2004 that was originally tendered against the Global and Tonita respondents.
275 The first email in the chain is from Mr Andrews to Mr Foote and states:
Hi Richard
Just testing your email address - Riad will probabl;y [sic] send me the software later on tonight and I'll forward it to you then.
276 To this email, Mr Allam replied:
hi toni
[t]his is the new version of wcard bet 50 to suit 1c 2c 5c 10c and20c riad
277 In cross-examination, Mr Cobden put it to Mr Andews that the "new version of wcard" to which Mr Allam referred was software that was suitable to run an Olympic game called Wildcard Bet 50. Mr Andrews accepted that "wcard" meant "Wildcard", however refuted the suggestion that the software that had been sent by Mr Allam and that was referred to in the email was an Olympic game, but "was to do with the bill acceptor that was attached to the machine".
278 The next relevant document is an email chain dated 12 and 15 November 2004 between Mr Andrews and a Mr Kirill Mendelson, a customer of the Joint Venture who had purchased a large quantity of gaming machines for sale in the Russian market. The subject line of the emails is "Manufacturers Plates", which Mr Andrews acknowledged in cross-examination referred to compliance plates.
279 The most relevant part of the email chain is a part of an email from Mr Andrews to Mr Mendelson, copied to Mr Cragen, as follows:
Hi Kirill
I can organise the manufacturers plates for you as per your discussions with George.
I need to let me know [sic] the exact information you want on the plates as follows
Mark 6
Date of Manufacture - do you want them all made in the same year or do they have to be a month and year
Serial Numbers - (is there a set serial number you need to use for each machine as per the import you have made or can they be random that we think up or can they be running numbers
…
You can use the XAW5…….series which is normally used by Aristocrat for their conversions of MVPs to Mark 6 or if they are an original Mark 6 then the series of serial numbers will be XAW6…………etc.
Please let me know what you want and we will sort it out for you.
280 This document was originally tendered against the Global and Impact respondents.
281 Mr Cragen accepted that this email resulted from a discussion between himself and Mr Mendelson. Mr Cragen strongly denied in cross-examination that in the discussion, Mr Mendelson had asked him to make up fake Aristocrat compliance plates. He said that Mr Mendelson had indicated that he was willing to purchase the entire Uruguay shipment for sale in Russia, and wanted two sample machines to be sent to him beforehand. Mr Cragen said that he believed that Mr Andrews' email was a reference to the possibility of sending leftover compliance plates from Sydney on the sample machines, or using the numbers that were on leftover compliance plates that had been removed from stripped machines.
282 The email was also put to Mr Andrews in cross-examination. Mr Andrews did not accept that the email was an offer from him to arrange to have compliance plates made and have serial numbers placed on them. Mr Andrews stated that in the email, he was offering to procure original compliance plates for Mr Mendelson that had been taken off gaming machines. He said that if Mr Mendelson provided him with the information that he required on compliance plates, he (Mr Andrews) would be able to source compliance plates that contained that information from his supply of compliance plates that had come off original machines and that were kept in bins at the Botany Premises. If Mr Andrews was unable to source compliance plates containing the particular information that Mr Mendelson wanted, he said that he would have "gone back and said I can't supply that".
283 The next document is an email chain between a Mr Kevin Hirst, who was involved with Huricane, Mr Andrews and Mr Allam. The email chain is dated 18 November 2004 and was initially tendered against the Global and Tonita respondents.
284 In an email to Mr Andrews, Mr Hirst indicated that he was waiting for a "complete set of game Roms [sic]". He continued:
Riad has sent only 2 color proms and both of them are blank files So he has either mis read the prom or has a defective ones.
With regard to the EPROM size the ones in the games that we have erased are 16 times the size of the files that Riad has sent for the Low res games and will require about 1-2 days to convert the Files there are 42 files involved that will require modification and I am not certain that we have all the ROMs for all the games. [sic]
285 Mr Andrews acknowledged in cross-examination that he understood this email to be a reference to a misread EPROM, that is to say that there was a mistake when copying an EPROM. However, he denied that the email referred to the exercise of copying game EPROMs on to a computer by Huricane.
286 In response to the above email, Mr Allam replied by email in the same email chain as follows:
If Kevin requires the games that I sent to him by mail, I still have the complete set of games on eprom. If he wants then I will send the games to him tomorrow by mail (express post).
Thanks
Riad
287 In cross-examination, Mr Allam denied that he had ready access to games such that he would be able to mail them immediately because he kept a master copy of the games.
288 The next relevant document is an email chain between Mr Andrews and Mr Mendelson (copied to Mr Cragen) with the subject "Atronic". The emails are dated 17, 18 and 19 February 2005 and were originally tendered against the Global respondents only. There are several relevant parts within the chain of emails.
289 First, in an email to Mr Mendelson, Mr Andrews says:
Hi Kirill
Re the Atronic shipment …
I have been advised that the plates that were to be put on the machines dont have the Atronic logos and I'm trying to get a list of the serial numbers by COB this afternoon so that I can get Riad to make them up by Tuesday next week and I'll take them to Melbourne with me for fitting on the machines. …
I need some dummy invoices made up for say 80 machines and 50 machines by that date …
[D]id you fix up the last lot of freight … or is this being held pending the recent problems with the incorrect plates / serial numbers for the shipment of 119?
290 When questioned on this part of the email, Mr Andrews conceded that it was possible that the email was a reference to Mr Allam making up or engraving some compliance plates for the "Atronic" machines, a set of gaming machines that had been purchased from Tabcorp. Mr Andrews gave evidence that because of the way the machines were manufactured, and the practice of the Victorian gaming industry, it was necessary to arrange for the manufacture of additional compliance plates for the Atronic machines.
291 The second relevant part of the email chain is in the reply to Mr Andrews' email from Mr Mendelson as follows:
Please make sure that the tags are attended to and for a change we have the right ones attached.
Mr Andrews indicated that he believed that the reference to "tags" in this email was to compliance plates.
292 Mr Andrews then replied to Mr Mendelson as follows:
Hi Kirill
Is there any particular year of manufacture you want on the plates or do you want me to just go with the series of dates within the numbers of the ones that have passed before (I should be able to get close based on previous lists) or do you want to nominate dates.
293 Mr Andrews acknowledged that this email was a reference to engraving on blank compliance plates the year of manufacture and serial numbers that suited Mr Mendelson, however he denied that this involved using serial numbers that were on existing lists obtained from Tabcorp because those number had been accepted by regulatory authorities in the past. He explained the practice of engraving compliance plates for the Atronic machines by reference to the Victorian gaming system, which involved putting two sets of serial numbers on compliance plates.
294 The next relevant document is an email chain between Mr Andrews, Mr Allam and Mr Dante Rivera, a business acquaintance of the Joint Venture's located in South America, copied to Mr Cragen, Mr Andes Kan and Mr Vladimir Trajovski. The subject of the emails is "ARISTOCRAT PROGRAMS" and the emails are dated 22 July 2005.
295 The first email in the chain of two emails is from Mr Rivera and is addressed to Mr Allam as follows:
Sr. Ria please send me by e-mail new information about this game programs Star Drifter, King of the Nile, Money Tree because the old ones that you sent me recently they are failure.
296 The second email is an email in response to Mr Rivera from Mr Andrews as follows:
Hi Dante
All the Mark VI games were given to Walter on a CD - Please get him to give you a copy of the games you require.
We are not happy to send this type of information over the email which is why we gave this CD to Walter to take back with him. …
297 In cross-examination, Mr Andrews identified "Walter" as a Mr Walter Di Palma, a gaming machine technician from Argentina who appeared as a witness in the proceeding. Mr Andrews denied that Mr Di Palma was in fact given a CD of games, indicating that he had "made a mistake". Mr Andrews also stated that he understood from Mr Allam that the problems with the games that Mr Rivera referred to in his email were caused because Mr Rivera "was an incompetent technician and the problem was with the way in which he put them on the board, rather than the games being faulty".
298 Mr Andrews denied that he had made the reference to not sending information over email because he did not want a record kept of those communications. Another email containing a similar statement from Mr Andrews, dated 5 November 2005, was also in evidence. The relevant part is as follows:
Please don't ask for software by email - Just call
299 This email was not put to Mr Andrews, although it was put to Mr Cragen and Mr Allam. Mr Cragen also denied that the reason for this comment was that Mr Andrews did not want a record kept of those communications, and said that he believed that Mr Andrews was referring to the fact that he would not send software by email, but could send the relevant chips by post.
300 The email from Mr Andrews to Mr Rivera was also put to Mr Cragen and Mr Allam in cross-examination. Mr Cragen said that he had "made extensive inquiries about that particular email" and was told that the information that was contained on the CD given to Mr Di Palma was game training. He indicated that he had made those inquiries after this proceeding had started, but that he had not seen the email at the time that it was sent in 2005 as "it was an email address that I didn't really get to all the time".
301 Mr Allam also denied that the CD referred to in the email contained Aristocrat Mark VI games given to Mr Di Palma by Mr Allam. The effect of Mr Allam's evidence was that he had given Mr Di Palma instructions on how to assemble Mark VI machines and how to put games and artwork on the machines. He said that Mr Di Palma had taken pictures relating to these instructions and downloaded those pictures onto a blank CD given to him by Mr Allam. Mr Allam said that this CD was the CD referred to in the email by Mr Andrews.
302 Mr Di Palma also gave evidence at the hearing. Exhibited to his affidavit was a CD which he said was the CD given to him by Mr Allam in around June or July 2005.
303 There was some question as to whether the CD exhibited to the affidavit was in fact the same CD that was given to Mr Di Palma by Mr Allam.
304 In his cross-examination of Mr Di Palma, Mr Cobden suggested to Mr Di Palma that the CD that had been exhibited to his affidavit was in fact a CD that was manufactured in Argentina, and words to the effect that it was made in Argentina were marked on the CD. In addition, the manuals that were on the CD exhibited to Mr Di Palma's affidavit apparently related to American gaming machines which are different to machines from Australia, and were written in English, which Mr Di Palma does not speak.
305 Mr Di Palma stated that the manuals were useful to him despite this as they assisted him to "orient" himself in relation to the machine. Mr Di Palma also denied that he was ever given a CD by Mr Allam which contained Aristocrat games.
306 The next relevant communications are two email chains between Mr Andrews, Mr Vladimir Trajkovski, Mr Andres Kan and Mr Cragen dated 21 and 25 October 2005. The emails relate to machines that formed part of the Uruguay transaction. The first email chain contained an email from Mr Andrews as follows:
Hi Vladimir
What has happened to all the original artwork we sent down to you for projects - I thought you were supposed to keep these and return them to us here?
…
If we cant get the originals back then we will have to charge the group for these sets of artwork which have a value in the local market place here of arouns$1000. [sic]
I cant believe we are sending more of the same gear down there when I was fairly sure that we had made it very plain that we were to have all the originals returned to us.
307 In cross-examination, Mr Andrews denied that the implication to be drawn from this email was that he had sent original artwork to Vladimir with the intention that it would be copied in South America, the copies distributed for sale, and the original returned to him in Australia. He said that the reference to sending artwork back was meant to convey that the surplus that was not used in the project was to be sent back to him in Australia. Mr Cragen also denied any understanding that Mr Trajkovski was borrowing the artworks with an intention of copying them.
308 The second email chain contained another email from Mr Andrews as follows:
Hi Vladimir
…
2/ I have attached a full list of all the original artwork sent - This was given to you / Dante with the instructions that these were to be returned to us here as each one has a value in this market place.
So I need to know
…
c) Original artwork was given to Tony Nuevo and this was again given with instructions for their return to us here …
309 Mr Andrews again denied in cross-examination that this email was a reference to sending artworks to Mr Trajkovski, all of which he expected to be returned to him in Australia.
310 Following this email in the chain was an earlier email that had been sent by Mr Trajkovski to Mr Andrews. The relevant part is as follows:
3. Original artwork, it was sent to us in the last seconds prior to shipping to install them in the machines to Macedonia as we did not have any graphics (what Riad sent was partial) and those where [sic] only 3 or 4 games if I remember well, we did not have time to take copies. But all of this was talked on the phone with you and Riad.
311 In relation to this email, Mr Andrews denied that he understood Mr Trajkovski to mean that he had to use some original artworks, because contrary to the understanding he had with Mr Andrews to make copies of the artwork and send the originals back, he did not make the copies. Mr Cragen also denied that he understood this explanation to be the case at the time that Mr Trajkovski had sent the email, but conceded that when he read the email now, that may be a possible interpretation.
312 The next relevant communication is an email from Mr Antonio Nuevo to Mr Allam, Mr Cragen and Mr Andrews. The relevant part of the email is as follows:
G'Day Riad,
…
I need the software for Flame of Olympus MK6 can you please send it. We also need the blank [c]hips for ten MK6 boards, we only received for 20 boards and we have 30 boards.
313 In cross-examination, Mr Allam denied that he knew that the reason that Mr Nuevo had ordered and had received blank chips for Mark VI boards was for the purpose of copying Aristocrat game software on to those chips in South America. He said that it was possible that Mr Nuevo was using blank chips for legitimate purposes, such as for use on other brands of gaming machines.
314 The next relevant document is an email from Mr Andrews to Mr Trajkovski and Mr Cragen dated 10 April 2005 which states in relevant part:
In future all correspondence regarding the Uruguay project and any other sensitive subject such as parts etc for this project etc is to be sent to the following address
kgbird1947@yahoo.com.au
315 The Aristocrat companies submit that this email, and Mr Andrews' use of a web-based "and therefore untraceable" Yahoo email address, was evidence of the adoption of protocols to avoid detection of infringing activities. Mr Andrews denied that this was the purpose of adopting a web-based email address, and also denied any connection between the adoption of this email address and the discovery that Anton Piller raids were being carried out in the Vidtech proceedings. The email was also put to Mr Cragen, who said that he did not recall having received it.
316 A further relevant email was tendered as Exhibit X and was dated 20 September 2005. This email was from Mr Nuevo to Mr Allam, Mr Cragen and Mr Andrews, and was copied to a Mr Santiago Sanjur, a business partner of Mr Nuevo. The subject line was "URGENT" and the email stated:
G Day Riad,
The CD Tony Andrews handed me in Vegas only has Indian Dreaming MKVI on it, I was also missing Tiki Torch MKVI as I specified on the mail below ….
317 The earlier "mail" referred to was then reproduced and stated relevantly:
G'Day Riad,
On the CD you gave me with the MKVI games, I am missing MKVI Indian Dreaming & MKVI Tiki Torch, can you please send ASAP via Email …
318 This email was put to Mr Cragen and Mr Allam in cross-examination. Mr Cragen denied having read the email and said that he did not recall having seen the email at the time that it had been sent to him. Similarly, Mr Allam said that although the email was sent to him, he did not remember receiving it and said that "I don't read every email that is coming, you know, to me". He also denied ever having given Mr Nuevo a CD.
319 The last email correspondence of note is an email from Mr Andrews to the email address "jesika@iinet.net.au" dated 10 November 2005, which forwards an email sent to Mr Andrews from Mr Sanjur, copied to Mr Nuevo and Mr "Jorge L. Martin C.". The email from Mr Sanjur which was forwarded by Mr Andrews reads in relevant part:
Hello Tony, …
Tony with regards to the art work for these games, We will translate them into Spanish. If you can get to Us ASAP. The pay tables glass, before the machines arrive to Panama it will greatly appreciated. [sic] If you can get the art in a cd it will be even better. …
I have the Aristocrat Games translated into Spanish and can offer Art for them if you need …
320 This email was put to Mr Andrews in cross-examination. Mr Andrews accepted that in the email, Mr Sanjur requested artwork for translation and copying, however he denied that he in fact ever sent artwork over for this purpose or that he ever sent artwork to Mr Sanjur on a CD. He said that he did not know why Mr Sanjur had made this request of him and that he had not responded to the request.