Copyright Law

Irish ISP wins major legal victory against record labels

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Interesting news from TechEYE.net:

Irish ISP wins major legal victory against record labels
No legal precedent in Irish law for disconnection

UPC, one of Ireland's largest internet service providers, has won a major legal victory against four of the world's most powerful record companies over the much-contested issue of online music piracy.

The High Court in Dublin ruled today that there was no precedent in Irish law to force ISPs to identify and disconnect people accused of illegally downloading copyrighted files, which means that despite the record companies requests, UPC will not be required to take part in the three strikes programme that had been on the table for some time now.

Warner Music, Universal Music, Sony BMG and EMI Records wanted a three strikes system that would including an informal warning at the first stage, designed to highlight the problem, a stern written warning at the second stage, threatening disconnection, and then a disconnection for seven days at the third stage. If a user continues to break the rules disconnection for a full year may follow.

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on October 11, 2010 (boomark / email).