The ISP Association of Ireland has said that there is no legal
basis for the music industry's demands that they disconnect
copyright-infringing internet users, and that the law already
provides ways for content owners to pursue copyright
infringers.
Music industry lobby group the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industries (IFPI) had pursued Ireland's biggest ISP,
Eircom, through the courts in relation to users' alleged copyright
infringement.
Eight days into the court case Eircom agreed to the three
strikes deal, whereby users are warned twice that they have been
caught engaging in illegal file sharing and then cut off a third
time they are caught.
The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), Ireland's
IFPI-affiliated music industry lobby group, has since written to
other ISPs demanding that they block a list of websites it will
provide that it believes facilitate piracy.
The ISP Association of Ireland (ISPAI) has said that its members
will not submit to IRMA's demands and that its activities are
protected by law.
"Privacy of user communications is protected in European and
Irish legislation," said the ISPAI's response to the demands. "ISPs
can not be expected to ignore these merely because it does not suit
another private party. To do so would breach the privacy of our
users as well as having serious implications for the continued
location of international e-business in this country and the jobs
these generate."
Eircom is a member of the ISPAI, but has told Irish reporters
that it will automatically comply with IRMA's demands and will
block sites that the industry body lists. The ISPAI said that its
approach and statement had been approved by "a majority" of its
members.
"Irish copyright law provides an avenue for the pursuit of
people breaching copyright through the courts. ISPAI members will
continue to co-operate fully within these existing legal
parameters," it said.
"This legal action is spurious and there is no evidence of
wrong-doing by Internet Service Providers. These actions could
impact on user privacy, damage the development of new internet
services, and hurt Ireland's standing as an e-commerce hub," said
the ISPAI's response to the demands.
The ISPAI said that it had approached IRMA two years ago to
discuss how best to combat piracy, but that record companies did
not respond to its overtures.
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