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Digital Top Stories
Irish three-strikes to be tested in court this week
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 15 June 2010
The legal case for three-strikes will be tested in Ireland this week, even though the country’s biggest tel co is already operating such a system to tackle online piracy.
As previously reported, unlike in the UK and France, efforts in Ireland to force internet service providers to take a more proactive role in policing piracy have not, so far, involved the crafting of new laws, but rather efforts to convince the net sector that an obligation to operate something like the three-strikes system exists under current copyright law.
One of the country’s biggest net firms, Eircom, agreed to voluntarily launch a three-strikes system, which will see persistent file-sharers have their net connections suspended, as part of an out of court settlement to a wider dispute between the Irish record industry and the tel co. But in that settlement the Irish record companies pledged to try and pressure Eircom’s rivals to introducing similar anti-piracy measures. Such pressuring is now underway.
And by pressuring, we mean legal action. And one bit of such legal action will head to court this week, as another Irish ISP – UPC (Chorus NTL until last month) – tries to persuade a judge that there is no obligation on them to operate a three-strikes system under existing copyright laws in Ireland.
The Irish record industry will be hoping that that previously reported Irish court ruling on three-strikes, in which Judge Peter Charleton ruled that concerns raised by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner regarding Eircom’s three-strikes system were unfounded, will give them a head start. Though while that ruling said that three-strikes didn’t breach privacy laws, it didn’t say there was any obligation on ISPs to operate such anti-piracy measures, which is the point at issue in the UPC case.
And UPC stand by their claim there is no obligation on them to operate three-strikes. They told the country’s Sunday Business Post last week: ”UPC will continue to vigorously defend the ISP liability proceedings taken against it by the music companies. There is no basis under Irish or European law requiring an ISP to monitor or block subscriber traffic on its network. We do not condone piracy and we have always taken a strong stance against illegal activity on our network. But we will not voluntarily agree to implement measures such as a [three strikes] system in the absence of a legal obligation to do so”.
Lawyers at all of Ireland’s other ISPs and tel cos will be watching this week’s court hearing with interest. Both O2 and 3 are facing similar action from the Irish record labels and plan to likewise fight in court any bid to force them to introduce three-strikes. Vodafone will also be viewing things carefully, though, according to The Post, they have indicated they are willing to enter into voluntary discussions with the record industry about anti-piracy measures, rather than automatically fighting any claim by the labels in court.
