Eircom to begin throttling and disconnecting pirates... yarr

waitinforatrain

I think the Irish pirate party is going to be getting a few seats at the next election.

According to torrentfreak:

http://torrentfreak.com/irelands-largest-isp-starts-throttling-and-disconnections-090725/

Next month Ireland’s largest ISP will begin an anti-piracy campaign against its own customers. After caving in entirely to the orders of the music industry, Eircom will first warn alleged copyright infringers, then slow their connection “to a snail’s pace”, all followed up by disconnection from the Internet.

Earlier this year Ireland’s RIAA, IRMA, and the country’s largest ISP, Eircom, reached a private agreement to implement 3 strikes for alleged pirates.
Eircom felt this agreement would put it at a competitive disadvantage, so part of the deal would see IRMA go after Ireland’s other major ISPs too. IRMA kept that promise by going after two other ISPs - BT Communications Ireland and UPC Communications Ireland. IRMA said it targeted these ISPs since their customers share the most music.
Unlike the weak Eircom, UPC and BT say they will not go over and above their obligations under the law and have refused to capitulate to the music industry monopoly - IRMA controls 90% of recorded music in Ireland.
So next month sees Eircom become the anti-piracy partner of IRMA. It will begin acting on the inspired decision to punish its own customers, based upon allegations of copyright infringement from the music industry. On an initial allegation, Eircom’s customers will receive a warning on their bill. On a second, they will find that their connection has been slowed “to a snail’s pace” and on a third, its Internet blackout time.
All this without the need for a court either - President Sarkozy would give his right arm for this kind of unconstitutional power.
So why exactly did Eircom get into bed with IRMA when the European E-Commerce Directive clearly states that ISPs are not responsible for the data they carry?
According to some - surprise, surprise - it’s all about money. While Eircom could’ve gone through with its defense in the court case against IRMA, these things take time and can drag on for months or even years. This is the last thing Eircom needs in its current position.
The ISP is at least $5.6 billion in debt, has had five owners in the last 10 years and is currently the subject of yet another takeover bid by Singapore Technologies Telemedia, a unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings.
Problematic outstanding litigation isn’t particularly attractive to prospective buyers, so the decision to settle with IRMA could have been viewed as a sensible one by Eircom, even at the risk of losing some customers.
However, according to Eircom spokesman Paul Bradley, there has been “no measurable loss” of customers moving to Ireland’s other ISPs but of course, Eircom hasn’t disconnected anyone yet. Rest assured when they do, the number moving to other ISPs will be almost identical to the numbers they disconnect.
Giving money to a company that rates your business as secondary to the needs of someone else’s business, copyright infringement or not, seems like a good situation to avoid.
Sign up with UPC here or BT here and help to finance their battle against the bullies from IRMA.

phasers

****

towel401

we'll just have to start using encrypted FTP and the likes. i'm not bovvered, i have most of the music i wanted to download, DRM is dead and there are plenty of other places to get it for free or half nothing

Stercus Accidit

Lol, as soon as I get a first warning, I'll be cancelling my account with them. Sentence without trial? Breaching of contract? Goodbye Eircom.

sink

They can only catch torrent and other p2p users who publicly broadcast their ip address when downloading. If you use file servers like rapidshare they can't track who's downloading what and therefore are powerless. Since I seldom use torrents or other forms of p2p I'm not too concerned.

TPD

Does this affect the companies that rent the lines from eircom? UTV etc.

Wish I lived elsewhere and had a real choice for broadband.

My name is URL

I wouldn't worry too much about it. They only agreed in principle to disconnect users to avoid court

I can't see them disconnecting an ever increasing number of customers when they're already in massive debt

ScumLord

Yarr we'll never stand for it, The greatest pirate captains have amassed a pirate armada we set sail for Eircom land on the morrow.

Biggins

I can't understand why people are still with Eircom to be honest!
For the last 15 years I've recommended folk to witch away from them.
Their service sucks, their line speeds is NEVER what they state or even close to it, their speed rate is up and down per second like a roller-coaster, their phone help service sucks big time, there is delays upon delays and their charges are stupidly far, far too high. - for example: check out www.btireland.ie and see the price comparison chart (see below either).



Eircom sucks big time in so many ways and many people that I know of, have counted their blessings over the years after switching away from them.

Good luck to them switching people off. They are only further digging their own grave and the sooner they are buried, the better. No loss.

blubloblu

The application to block the pirate bay will be in court in the next few days. Should be interesting. Will Justice Charleton allow blocking legal sites that merely link to content that may or may not be copyrighted?

towel401

Biggins wrote: »

I can't understand why people are still with Eircom to be honest!
For the last 15 years I've recommended folk to witch away from them.
Their service sucks, their line speeds is NEVER what they state or even close to it, their spped rate is up and down per second like a rollercoaster, their phone help service sucks big time, there is delays upon delays and their charges are stupidly far, far too high. - for example: check out www.btireland.ie and see the price comparison chart.

Eircom sucks big time in so many ways and many people that I know of, have counted their blessings over the years after switching away from them.

Good luck to them stitching people off. They are only further digging their own grave and the sooner they are buried, the better. No loss.

ah now i never had any problems with their CS or their speeds. I always get close enough to the theoretical maximum speed out of my connection. besides eircom are the only crowd around here anything else is just eircom bb resold to you by a different provider who might not offer static IP's and might pull all sorts of crazy **** that eircom doesnt

Fremen

In one sense this is good, because it's one more step towards ananymous, encrypted file sharing.

Back when the RIAA started suing homeless people and dead people, I decided I wasn't going to buy CDs anymore.
If you don't like what they're doing, vote with your wallet.

sink

Biggins wrote: »

I can't understand why people are still with Eircom to be honest!
For the last 15 years I've recommended folk to witch away from them.
Their service sucks, their line speeds is NEVER what they state or even close to it, their speed rate is up and down per second like a roller-coaster, their phone help service sucks big time, there is delays upon delays and their charges are stupidly far, far too high. - for example: check out www.btireland.ie and see the price comparison chart (see below either).



Eircom sucks big time in so many ways and many people that I know of, have counted their blessings over the years after switching away from them.

Good luck to them stitching people off. They are only further digging their own grave and the sooner they are buried, the better. No loss.

I have a 6mb connection and always get speeds of over 600kbps, but then I live in the sticks so there is probably low contention at my exchange. I haven't had any major problems with them, never saw the need to change.

blubloblu

When you buy a cd released by EMI/Warner/Universal/Sony, >80% of the money goes to fund this carry-on. Always check http://www.riaaradar.com before buying

Biggins

towel401 wrote: »

ah now i never had any problems with their CS or their speeds. I always get close enough to the theoretical maximum speed out of my connection. besides eircom are the only crowd around here anything else is just eircom bb resold to you by a different provider who might not offer static IP's and might pull all sorts of crazy **** that eircom doesn't

If your getting constant speed's, your one of the lucky few.
I and other customers I personally know have never had any problems getting static i.p. addreses so that don't wash. BT is a LOT more professional in their service. They are not perfect but by god, until you actually compare the difference, you will wonder why Eircom have been getting away with their service the way it is, for so long!

As for pulling crazy stuff, I could bore you to death of about 15 years of crazy stuff Eircom has done and is still doing to their customers. They are unreal. I even fixed up a modem, line and network for an Eircom sales rep in their own home - guess what - they were going with BT but didn't want their boss to know it. Says it all.

I'm not a BT sales rep but can't understand why folk in this day pay more for less speed still!
Thats just plain madness and to be honest, silly and stupid.
With BT now upgrading their speed for free up to 24 megs while Eircom trawls at 6 at the best, do yourself a favour, check out the competition, read the PC problem sections and other pc related forums about Eircom and their service.
Its an eye opener to be sure.

weeder

blubloblu wrote: »

The application to block the pirate bay will be in court in the next few days. Should be interesting. Will Justice Charleton allow blocking legal sites that merely link to content that may or may not be copyrighted?

Highly doubtful since it was sold to some company last week who are only going to link it to legal torrents


**** the RIAA IMRA

towel401

Biggins wrote: »

If your getting constant speed's, your one of the lucky few.
I and other customers I personally know have never had any problems getting static i.p. addreses so that don't wash. BT is a LOT more professional in their service. They are not perfect but by god, untill you actually compare the difference, you will wonder why Eircom have been getting away with their service the way it is, for so long!

As for pulling crazy stuff, I could bore you to death of about 15 years of crazy stuff Eircom has done and is still doing to their customers. They are unreal. I even fixed up a modem, line and network for an Eircom sales rep in their own home - guess what - they were going with BT but didn't want their boss to know it. Says it all.

I'm not a BT sales rep but can't understand why folk in this day pay more for less speed still!
Thats just plain madness and to he honest, silly and stupid.
With BT now upgrading their speed for free up to 24 megs while Eircom trawls at 6 at the best, do yourself a favour, check out the competition, read the PC problem sections and other pc related forums about Eircom and their service.
Its an eye opener to be sure.

i suppose, i am very close to the eircom exchange

if there was something better around i'd change. even 2mbit wireless would be nice because i get hardly any upstream here. and 48 a month is kind of expensive

i had a bad experience with BT in the good old days. i don't even know if they would allow me to sign up with them again or if they are still convinced I owe them 2 G's

Wertz

Meh, looks like I'm just going to ditch my DSL...already paying ~€140 bimonthly for an unreliable 3mbit connection where the only time I need the speed is for torrents or ftp...let's face it, you can do any html stuff on dial up or mobile broadband for a fraction of the cost so the point of having DSL to begin with is being removed.
In the 6 or so years I've had a connection I've spent in the region of 5 grand to eircom/BT, a good portion of that for "line rental"; ie the few hundred metres of copper between me and the exchange that has neither been upgraded, replaced or even looked at in about 20 yrs :rolleyes:
BT is also moving it's operation to vodafone...a company I have no wish to give a red cent, so this is just the straw for the camel's back...

towel401

Wertz wrote: »

Meh, looks like I'm just going to ditch my DSL...already paying ~€140 bimonthly for an unreliable 3mbit connection where the only time I need the speed is for torrents or ftp...let's face it, you can do any html stuff on dial up or mobile broadband for a fraction of the cost so the point of having DSL to begin with is being removed.
In the 6 or so years I've had a connection I've spent in the region of 5 grand to eircom/BT, a good portion of that for "line rental"; ie the few hundred metres of copper between me and the exchange that has neither been upgraded, replaced or even looked at in about 20 yrs :rolleyes:
BT is also moving it's operation to vodafone...a company I have no wish to give a red cent, so this is just the straw for the camel's back...

if you pester them long enough they will replace your line. I got about 80m of new cable installed a couple of months ago and that solved any problems i used to have before. just call them up every few days for a month and keep on to them. it shouldnt be this way but at the end of it you should have a nice reliable connection

Wertz

Thanks but trouble is I'm with BT...anytime I've made them aware of problems with my line I get the usual spiel; replace the filters, plug router into main socket, power cycle router...when I say I've done that already, I'm told there may be a problem with my line (ya think?)...but eircom won't take calls from BT customers regarding line problems and BT seem unwilling (or unable) to do anything on their end.
Like I say, moving to HSDPA is looking like the only option for me, because I simply havne't got the disposable income to keep servicing this DSL line...ericom's move on throttling and BT's love in with vodafone sort of seal the deal for me.

Adamcp898

shyte,

Jesus Wept

They are the opposite of the Chinese.

giggsy664

Yarr harr fiddle dee dee

Being a pirate is alright with me!

Do what you want 'cos a pirate is free

You are a pirate!

towel401

Wertz wrote: »

Thanks but trouble is I'm with BT...anytime I've made them aware of problems with my line I get the usual spiel; replace the filters, plug router into main socket, power cycle router...when I say I've done that already, I'm told there may be a problem with my line (ya think?)...but eircom won't take calls from BT customers regarding line problems and BT seem unwilling (or unable) to do anything on their end.
Like I say, moving to HSDPA is looking like the only option for me, because I simply havne't got the disposable income to keep servicing this DSL line...ericom's move on throttling and BT's love in with vodafone sort of seal the deal for me.

that sucks mang, HSDPA sucks. is there no fixed wireless in your area? i used a 1mbit fixed wireless connection on Inis Mor and it was bitchin' fast i tell ya. 1mbit down and 0.99 up. i get a lot of use out of my IP phones and server so its worth holding on to the DSL. but i have used HSDPA before and it really does suck

Red Alert

Just wondering - if Eircom cut you off can you not just sign up with someone else?

blubloblu

You can, which is why this is fairly pointless.

Wertz

Aye I know, friends have it (3)...but at the minute it's really the pricing issue that is forcing me away from landline/DSL...can get meteor HSDPA for 17 a month...that's roughly a saving of 50 quid a month (from an income that's fast approaching 0) and if eircom are going ahead with this throttling crap, then the only thing I utlise from DSL is defunct. I'm just a home user; don't game much on the line or use it for anything other than light web use and torrent/p2p/ftp stuff...
There are fixed wireless products available in my area but price wise, they work out about the same as DSL.
If HSDPA ends up being a non-runner I can always go back to DSL at a lower mbit package...it's the stupid f*ckin' line rental that keeps it at these pricing levels...

Diabhal Beag

So if I download stuff off Limewire or somewhere else I will get disconnected?

If its true thats ****ing bull****

Biggins

Wertz wrote: »

Thanks but trouble is I'm with BT...anytime I've made them aware of problems with my line I get the usual spiel; replace the filters, plug router into main socket, power cycle router...when I say I've done that already, I'm told there may be a problem with my line (ya think?)...but eircom won't take calls from BT customers regarding line problems and BT seem unwilling (or unable) to do anything on their end.
Like I say, moving to HSDPA is looking like the only option for me, because I simply havne't got the disposable income to keep servicing this DSL line...ericom's move on throttling and BT's love in with vodafone sort of seal the deal for me.

I read recently that there is moves to remove ownership of the actual line (seeing at its been bought and paid for many times over alone) from Eircom and lease it out to various individual companies.
Eircom has had ownership of the line for a long time seeing as they originally were for many, many years, the only main phone company in the country.
This is no longer the case and other companies are claiming (successfully) that this is unfair business practise.
Over the next few months keep an eye on the media as regards this issue. Again. as far as I have read a time ago in national papers, the issue is ongoing and the opposition to Eircom are not likely to just let the matter rest.

Gummy Panda

Biggins wrote: »

If your getting constant speed's, your one of the lucky few.
I and other customers I personally know have never had any problems getting static i.p. addreses so that don't wash. BT is a LOT more professional in their service. They are not perfect but by god, until you actually compare the difference, you will wonder why Eircom have been getting away with their service the way it is, for so long!

As for pulling crazy stuff, I could bore you to death of about 15 years of crazy stuff Eircom has done and is still doing to their customers. They are unreal. I even fixed up a modem, line and network for an Eircom sales rep in their own home - guess what - they were going with BT but didn't want their boss to know it. Says it all.

I'm not a BT sales rep but can't understand why folk in this day pay more for less speed still!
Thats just plain madness and to be honest, silly and stupid.
With BT now upgrading their speed for free up to 24 megs while Eircom trawls at 6 at the best, do yourself a favour, check out the competition, read the PC problem sections and other pc related forums about Eircom and their service.
Its an eye opener to be sure.

I'm going to turn around and say BT were one of the worse companies i ever dealt with. Accounting department was a joke. I was lucky to get a bill, wasn;t charged from months then get a massive bill or I'm overcharged then they try to refund me less then i was charged.

Customer care was crap. I had to email the former CEO to get it sorted. Went to eircom and they've never bothered me bar some downtime. Never said a word to me about going over the cap either.

Wibbs

BT can be a serious pain IMHO. I deal with this stuff on a daily basis and I have found in the last few years, in Dublin anyway, that while Eircom are pricey gits, I would have far fewer callouts for internet problems with them. Far fewer. To the extent that if a client is using eircom I usually look to the computer settings first.

BT will also throttle you back if you go over their cap and it seems to be variable too. Then you're stuck at dialup speeds for the rest of the month.

Quint

Eircom must have too many customers and is trying to get some of them to sign up with different ISPs!
There's no way i'd stick with them.

redshoulder

Could be worse, just pirated music there going after.

blubloblu

redshoulder wrote: »

Could be worse, just pirated music there going after.

(cue overly dramatic Godwin law invocation)

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist. Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me.

Biggins

Wibbs wrote: »

BT can be a serious pain IMHO. I deal with this stuff on a daily basis and I have found in the last few years, in Dublin anyway, that while Eircom are pricey gits, I would have far fewer callouts for internet problems with them. Far fewer. To the extent that if a client is using eircom I usually look to the computer settings first.

BT will also throttle you back if you go over their cap and it seems to be variable too. Then you're stuck at dialup speeds for the rest of the month.

I get a lot of people asking me to also sort out their net problems due to some serious training I have in the technology field.
While I can't speak for Dublin where seemingly according to Wibbs, they seem to be keeping up some sort of resemblance of a good company, beyond the Dublin borders, a hell of a lot of time they are pretty useless to a lot of folk.

For the fore mentioned reasons above (post no. 9) and others, outside the Capital, its a different story, far, far different. When people are having problems, the first question from me and others in the I.T. field is always "Are you with Eircom?" - 9 out of 10 times the answer is "yes" and subsequently upon investigation of the problems people are having, are found to be at the feet of Eircom and their poor service.
I know of many, many people that never have trouble with BT just as Wibbs might suggest he know many that don't have trouble with Eircom. There is good and bad on both sides. I can tell of stories abut Eircoms accountancy methods and roughness that could make your hair stand on end.

Beyond the capital though from one side of this country to another where I get around to (some will have already kopped this by reading "Location: I currently move around (work)" under my avartar) I and others along with me whom I've had lengthy conversations, Eircom are a disaster from beginning to end to deal with.

They say the proof is in the pudding. Well as already suggested, go look for oneself at Irish net forums and seek out the relevant computer sections. By far one will see many more complaining abut Eircom alone in ratio to any other or all alternative available service providers together, but its not just about the numbers. Read about their methods, their consistent same problems with their service, line speed drops, cut outs, etc besides their consistent finance department problems with their customers too! Same problems repeating over and over and over again...

BT might cap ones speed if ye go over a limit. Shock horror - only to be expected if you download more than you paid for. Others so similar including Eircom.
However BT with their "third option" package give a person an UNLIMITED allowance and in some cases that option is still cheaper than Eircoms LESSER packages!

At the end of the day, there is good and bad on both sides.
For that good and bad though, by far, you are paying a lot more with Eircom!
Just compare the prices, them compare the services and the alternatives, not just with BT.
Read the forums...

Voodu Child

Biggins wrote: »

BT might cap ones speed if ye go over a limit. Shock horror - only to be expected if you download more than you paid for. Others so similar including Eircom.

Ive never been throttled by Eircom and im always over the cap, by several times.

Wouldn't touch torrents with a bargepole tbh though, so couldn't care less about this news.

aido179

then slow their connection “to a snail’s pace”

I must have been caught pirating the moment i signed up!

redshoulder

Have no problems with Eircom at the moment, have the business package which include unlimited cap.

abelard

If Eircom slowed my connexion to "a snail's pace", I'd head to the bank and slow my direct debit to "a snail's pace" too, and see how long that washed for.

edit: 1,000th post. At such a landmark I must make a speech. I think "go fcuk yourselves Eircom you shower of cnuts" should do.

abelard

abelard wrote: »

If Eircom slowed my connexion to "a snail's pace", I'd head to the bank and slow my direct debit to "a snail's pace" too, and see how long that washed for.

edit: 1,000th post. At such a landmark I must make a speech. I think "go fcuk yourselves Eircom you shower of cnuts" should do.

Congratulations on the 1k posts..