Downloaders face disconnection following Eircom settlement

From eircom.net


Eircom has agreed to implement several measures aimed at stopping the use of its internet services for illegal free downloading of music as part of an “amicable” settlement of High Court proceedings brought against it by four major record companies.
As part of the settlement, the record companies will supply Eircom with the IP addresses of all persons who they detect illegally uploading or downloading copyright works while Eircom has agreed measures which include the ultimate disconnection of infringing subscribers who ignore warnings to cease such infringement.

Welcoming the settlement this evening, Willie Kavanagh, chairman of EMI REcords and of the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), said he was happy with the outcome and expected other internet service providers to follow Eircom’s example. Eircom also expressed satisfaction with the outcome.

The settlement was announced to Mr Justice Peter Charleton this evening after lengthy talks between the sides and on the eighth day of the legal action, which was listed to run for four weeks.

Both parties have agreed to work closely together and on a joint approach aimed at ending “the absue of the internet by P2P (peer to peer) copyright infringers”, they said in a statement afterwards.

The approach involved the companies - EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner - providing Eircom with the IP addresses of all persons whom they detected to be illegally uploading or downloading copyright works on a peer to peer basis.

Eircom has agreed to implement from now on a graudated process under which it will: (1) inform its broadband
subscriber that the subscribers IP address has been detected infringing copyright; (2) warn the subscriber they will be disconnected unless infringement ceases and (3) disconnect the subscriber in default of compliance with the warning.

The record compnaies have also agreed they will take all necessary steps to put similar agreements in place with all other internet service providers in Ireland.

In their action, the four companies had sought court orders compelling Eircom to actively seek to prevent the use of its networks for the illegal free downloading of music, claiming music piracy is costing record companies here up to €14 million a year.

They alleged Eircom’s attitude was that piracy was not its problem and also complained Eircom was advertising its broadband packages on a website, Pirate Bay, being prosecuted in Sweden over alleged large scale illegal music piracy.
Eircom was also offering family packages on a broadband promotional site which would allow for the downloading of some 5,000 songs a month, it was claimed.

The case was the first here aimed at internet service providers, rather than indivdual illegal downloaders, and reflects the concern of the music industry about the scale and cost of illegal downloading. The court previously heard some 20 billion music files were illegally downloaded worldwide in 2006 alone.

The proceedings were brought by EMI Records (Ireland) Ltd, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Ireland) Ltd, Universal Music (Ireland) Ltd and Warner Music (Ireland) Ltd. Eircom had denied the claims and argued the record companies had no cause of action against it.
The case had centred on the construction of various EU Directives and Irish regulations relating to intellectual property rights and also on the property right provisions of the Constitution.

corny

How will eircom know what you're downloading?

You would need to use Eircom BB, but even then if you used File sharing programs that use SSL protocols they could not see the traffic.

ronan001

really stupid on eircom's part to get cornered into this. The reality is, if eircom send me one of those letters 'warning me'. It is they who face disconnection. They need their customers, i dont need eircom, there are many many more ISPs who wont do this unless legally required.

,agellan1975

And Eircom will take the list, doff their caps and promptly file it in a cabinet marked "Open only in case of regulator inspection". I would be VERY surprised if they aggressively enforced it, they may make some token disconnections for serious offenders but unless they have absolutely no idea of their user base and the number of actual "abusers" then i don't think the average user has much to worry about.

Hmmm then again it is eircom we are talking about so they just may be that stupid.:D

Kirijoleth

I wonder how many wrong people will get identified as illegal downloaders? I suppose you could use a program like Peerguardian2 to reduce the chances.

FusionNet

I am not a fan of illegal downloads. I work in the IT business but I'm also a music fan. I dont like downloads, especially illegal on a few grounds. Firstly is the P2P software, its rank and causes so many problems with PC's, Torjans etc and also spam and spyware. Secondly the quality of the downloads are poor and if your a real music fan this is not up to the grade. Thirdly I love having the CD on the shelf and playing the original from time to time. I mean I have an Ipod but its just not the same, maybe at the 320k acc but you run up very big files then.


My second main concern on this statement is wrong Identity. Eircom has shipped tens of thousands of routers with out Wifi security. This leave people open to getting their IP hijacked and then the innocent party getting blamed. This is Eircoms fault not the consumer. Also even after they realised this and started shipping units with WEP enabled its not worth the time. WEP and WPA are 3 minute hacks. Anyone in the business can steal broadband without effort. I think downloaders who take the mick should be caught but if there any way smart they will have themselves protected.

cool1nmac

Iv never got any torjans on my pc.

donmeister

cool1nmac wrote: »

Iv never got any torjans on my pc.

What are these torjans you speak of?