Eircom

brownacid

Anyone know what the story is with eircom monitoring p2p downloads. Is this an empty threat or has anyone heard of people gettin done for it?

yevveh

From the papers today...

Today's Sunday Business Post wrote:

Irish internet users are to be blocked from accessing music swapping websites, as internet service providers bow to pressure from the music industry. Eircom, the country’s biggest internet provider, is to start blocking its internet customers from accessing music swapping.

The country’s other internet providers have been told by the Irish Recorded Music Association (Irma) to follow suit or face legal action. If the music industry is successful, Ireland will become the first European country to completely block access to hundreds of file-sharing websites.

Irma, which represents major music groups EMI, Sony-BMG, Warner and Universal, is to begin compiling lists of websites that it claims are damaging its business. It will then apply for a court order, requiring Eircom and other internet providers to block access to these sites.

Under the terms of an agreement between Eircom and Irma, Eircom will not oppose any court application, meaning that the orders will be automatically granted. A spokesman for Eircom confirmed that Eircom ‘‘will not oppose any application [Irma] may make seeking the blocking of access from their network’’ to blacklisted websites.

The rest of the country’s internet providers, which include BT, UPC (which owns NTL and Chorus) and mobile operators, have yet to respond formally. The move was disclosed in a letter sent to internet providers last week, threatening legal action if they did not comply with Irma’s demands.

Irma has identified Pirate Bay, the world’s biggest file swapping website, as the first site that it will seek to have blocked. It will then move on to ‘‘similar websites’’.

Dunno anyone who's got hit by it yet, but I'd say I'll hear of a few in the next while if it ain't an empty threat...

Makaveli

Wow, that's a load of bollocks. Eircom sending warnings is one thing but actually blocking sites is a joke, especially when it's at the whim of IRMA.

paddyb125

Eircom only agreed on the condition that the record companies will have all the other ISP's do the same

Mars Bar

I love TPB...glad I'm not with Eircom! If eveybody left Eircom for that sole reason, they'd eventually back down.

paddyb125

I wouldn't mention the name's of p2p sites....

yoyo

Well I'm with Eircon and TPB still seems to work, anyways I don't use torrents so couldn't care less... But I don't agree with blocking of sites by ISPs either...

Nick

Makaveli

I just don't like the idea of ISPs blocking sites because a third part company is dictating things. Censorship for the most part is a bad thing.

xOxSinéadxOx

wtf like? they shouldn't be allowed to block anything

John

I don't use illegal download sites at all because I like to support the artists I like but **** IRMA. They are a royalty collecting organisation, not the music police.

GLaDOS

People will find a way around it, no ifs or buts

Chaosangel

you can just change your ip address so as they cant actually track you,the governement could obviously but ****ing eircom hardly.
you can download programs to change your ip address in order to download
but illegal downloading is wrong!

Mars Bar

I buy the music of artists I love, but I would never be able to pay for all the music I have downloaded. I would be stuck in one or two genres of music if it wasn't for downloading...

jos22

isn't block access to websites illegal. after all the piratebay operates legally. and all filesharing websites provide thousands of legal downloads.
IRMA should stopped. by the time their done they be seeking to block youtube and thousands of other websites too.

and their thousands of ways to get around blocked websites.

any one who still buys music from bands and labels the are represent by IRMA need to get their head checked.

yoyo

Even if they blocked TPB site, they would then also need to block all the hundreds of Tracker IPs aswell, as torrents you get from TPB and the likes generally use a range of trackers, I think its an absolute joke Eircon are getting away with this tbh, while I dont use torrents or care about them, it seems ridiculous we not only get 3rd world broadband services in this country but now its getting censorship!! Also there are many other ways of aquiring stuff than torrents, Newsgroups, Rapidshare, Megashares, private torrent sites etc... So this just tops to the joke Sony, IRMA and the likes are thinking they can "stop piracy", ohh yeah, I'll just feel less guilty downloading my Movies, Music, Software, games now :pac:

Nick

fillmore jive

hmmm blocking websites: sounds like something the chinese goverment would do.

and also aren't all these torrent sites just search engines? i thought they didn't host any of the files, just directed you to them. sure if thats the case then wouldn't google and yahoo etc. have to go as well?

jos22

not one torrent site is illegal.
IRMA are scum. they make up figures they claim to losse from piracy.
and multiply to make it seem like a problem.

if IRMA had they way we would be blocked access to play.com and other discount stores.
afterall every sale off play.com is a loss sales to irma.

Norway wants to legalise P2P.
germany and UK and practicality the entire EU bar France are against the music industry tactics of screwing people rights in order to main their 25 billion + dollar empire

af_thefragile

Aah sell outs!!!

zenno

fillmore jive wrote: »

hmmm blocking websites: sounds like something the chinese goverment would do.

and also aren't all these torrent sites just search engines? i thought they didn't host any of the files, just directed you to them. sure if thats the case then wouldn't google and yahoo etc. have to go as well?

EXACTUALLY. I can't understand why anyone in this country still uses eircom they are and always were a ripoff. and another thing, there is no way of blocking these sites it's a joke. i'm still laughing here.

towel401

zenno wrote: »

EXACTUALLY. I can't understand why anyone in this country still uses eircom they are and always were a ripoff. and another thing, there is no way of blocking these sites it's a joke. i'm still laughing here.

only option around this part of the country.

well could use mobile bb but they slow as **** and don't even give ya a proper IP address.

Mars Bar

We are with Perlico and it's grand...

zenno

towel401 wrote: »

only option around this part of the country.

well could use mobile bb but they slow as **** and don't even give ya a proper IP address.

i see. well lets just hope it doesn't happen then.

another thing people are not thinking about is this, if and when this p2p blocking occurs then i assume that anyone using BT/perlico/ or whatever will be blocked as well as all these isp's go through eircoms exchange this could happen in theory.

towel401

they just go through the exchange, they have their own ways of connecting to the public internet. but no matter what kind of nonsense they come up with there will definitely be a way around it.

jos22

Irish ISP: We Won't Block The Pirate Bay

http://www.pcworld.com/article/160114/irish_isp_we_wont_block_the_pirate_bay.html