[Article] Irish Govt pushing through 'illegal downloads' changes to copyright law

listermint

I have forwarded my views to maryhanafin@tcs.gov.ie
I suggest anyone who shares this do the same.

Dear Minister Hanafin


To say I am aghast at the cynical nature of the proposed amendments in relation to copyright directive (2001/29/EC), would be an understatement.

As an employee in the IT and Software sector I am fully aware of the potential of the Internet to be utilised in both subversive and the more beneficial manner in terms of openness.


Under current guidelines in the main, the sector is self regulating. Abusers of the technology are regulated by the providers and this allows to maintain the freedom which in essence is one of the cores to this communication medium.



I fear that in enacting such sweeping and powerful tools within the judiciary you are setting a dangerous precedence for this country and our image Internationally as a forward thinking Technology leader. A case in point of the power of freedom of expression (unhindered) it the current situation in the middle east, in no part owing to the benefit of social mediums such as Twitter and Facebook. Allowing for like minded free thinkers to share their views on the state of their nations in an open manner. We are in the midst of the first Social Media fuelled revolutions for democracy.



In enacting this legislation you are allowing for the dictate of an individual to decide what is allowed or disallowed within the confines of this medium. It is binding, it is the opposite of a forward thinking and open economy. In pursuing this line you are not following EU guidelines, furthermore you are pushing for direct oppostiont to that very open economy to which was one of the founding functions of this European Community.

In summation you will be the Minister remembered for pushing forward the small steps into Internet restriction, freedom is something that we western nations value.




Yours Cordially

..................

ArthurG

Yiz can all relax, unsurprisingly there seem to be no plans to sign in the legislation before tomorrow - and in retrospect, why on earth would they?? Surely it wasn't a stunt by (soon to be ex-) TD Ryan??.

http://www.politics.ie/justice/153846-hanafin-denies-media-claims-plans-rush-through-copyright-laws.html

Thor

ArthurG wrote: »

Yiz can all relax, unsurprisingly there seem to be no plans to sign in the legislation before tomorrow - and in retrospect, why on earth would they?? Surely it wasn't a stunt by (soon to be ex-) TD Ryan??.

http://www.politics.ie/justice/153846-hanafin-denies-media-claims-plans-rush-through-copyright-laws.html

Thank the lord.

God damn SiliconRepublic

listermint

Update to my Correspondence

Dear Listermint

Thank you for your e-mail. I am glad that you contacted me for clarification.

There is absolutely no truth in reports that I am about to introduce enforcement measures against internet service providers or their users and I have no intention of issuing a statutory instrument to this effect. I attach a recent Press Release confirming same.

listermint, please do not hesitate to contact me if you need assistance with any matter of concern to you.

Le gach dea ghuí,

Mary


The information in this email, and any attachments transmitted with it, are confidential and are for the intended recipient only. If you receive this message in error, please notify us via webmaster@tcs.gov.ie . This e-mail has been scanned by a virus scanner and appears to be clean.

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Blowfish

Unfortunately she said elsewhere that it is up to the next minister to implement this, hence leaving the possiblity of it still happening.

Ironically this has all gone on the same day as Australia has gone the opposite way.

listermint

Blowfish wrote: »

Unfortunately she said elsewhere that it is up to the next minister to implement this, hence leaving the possiblity of it still happening.

Ironically this has all gone on the same day as Australia has gone the opposite way.

Ive also read up alot of the background info, It can be taken up entirely the wrong way. They dont appear to have made up their mind either way. I think what is being suggested that they wish to close the actual loop hole and not have the matter spurious. This could equally mean that they will follow the Australian format when it is addressed.

whore

i wonder what'll happen now with this, i wont mind too much if it doesnt extend to currently airing tv shows, that would be terrible, i'd have to buy a tv then :P i hope they just say they wont legislate it, that'd be nice

dob99

dmclean1842 wrote: »

But to do this they would have to join the torrent too. Therefore they are file-sharing content, thus breaking the law themselves. Evidence cannot be gained by committing a crime.

Not necessarily. The protocol would allow them to query the tracker for a list of people who are downloading and uploading the torrent without having to actually join the swarm. All they would need is the original torrent file (which I presume they could get from any number of sites).

watty

You can share files without breaking the laws.
Not all files are restricted copyright

Also you can legally "share" a "restricted copyright" file if you have the "rights" or permission from the "rights holder".

as dob99 says you don't have to even share files.

Sillycon Republic are only good for printing press releases.
Even Ryan didn't want to do this.

lucernarian

It's pretty cheeky for Eamonn Ryan to give his opinion on any possible policy having had little personal competence I feel. Some of his own communications policy advisers had little more than Business degrees sure! And working off the back of an "article" from Sillycon Republic wasn't the wisest idea. Storm in a teacup at this stage, but I'll be watching this space.

watty

Nothing to see I think... Except
http://www.rte.ie/news/election2011/results/index.html#sitting