ISPs speak out against legal change dubbed ‘Irish SOPA’

February 5th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

“But this S.I. now hangs like a dark shadow over the industry because, once signed, it copper-fastens that the courts should decide on a case by case basis the remedy for claims of copyright infringement – done by third parties – and whether the remedy should be to force the operators by injunction to prevent infringement (by others) occurring on their services.”

ISPs speak out against legal change dubbed ‘Irish SOPA’

SiliconRepublic.com
03.02.2012

The furious debate surrounding the statutory instrument to amend the Copyright Act 2000 – dubbed the ‘Irish SOPA’ – until now has seen one group maintain a dignified silence. But this evening the ISPs came out strongly against the instrument “for very practical and simple business reasons.”

In a statement the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) said: “The background put very simplistically is that the music industry failed to secure an injunction in the Irish courts in 2010 against UPC, one of the larger ISPs operating here. In his judgment Mr. Justice Charleton interpreted that Irish law did not give him the means to grant the injunction which the plaintiffs sought because the European Directive had not been fully transposed and referred this back to the government to introduce clarifying legislation.

“It is a matter of opinion as to whether this is really needed and certainly in the decade since the Directive, the European Commission, who is responsible to ensure compliance with Directives hadn’t picked up on it. However, Minister Sean Sherlock is now introducing a quick fix by using an S.I. (statutory instrument) rather than primary legislation.

“This is made more urgent because the music industry is now suing the State for lost revenue due to this perceived omission – expecting the tax-payer to cough up again – and we understand the government must respond during next week. The problem is Minister Sherlock’s quick fix is far too broad, offers no clarification, simply cites the EU Directive and effectively throws interpretation back to the courts,” the ISPs said.

The ISPAI said the reason this legal technicality is so important is because it adds more pressure in what are already difficult trading conditions.