AfterDawn: News

IRMA wins Irish filesharing case

Echoing the same result in most countries, the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) which is like the Irish version of the RIAA, has won a battle to get the identities of file sharers it alleges to have shared copyrighted music through P2P networks illegally. The High Court in Dublin ruled on July 8th that ISPs in the country have to hand over the subscriber details of 17 file sharers which ill then be sued by IRMA. The IRMA praised the high courts decision.

"We will now be writing to the 17 individuals informing them of the seriousness of their actions. We will offer them the opportunity of settling the action. If they refuse our settlement terms, we will be forced to pursue the matter through the Courts. This is a last resort for the music industry. We hope that this decision will jolt others, particularly parents of teenagers, to realize that unauthorized file sharing is illegal and has consequences" Dick Doyle, Director General of IRMA commented.



The IRMA blames filesharing for a huge portion of the €28 million drop in music sales in Ireland. The question of privacy is always unanswered in these cases. While these file sharers might have been uploading music illegally to other file sharers, you have to question the legality of inspecting files in a users' shared folders, as a Dutch judge did just days ago when he declined to force ISPs to hand over details to anti-piracy foundation Brein.

Source:
IRMA

Written by: James Delahunty @ 13 Jul 2005 18:12

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• 14 comments

• nonoitall

  When it comes to privacy and security vs. money, the former rarely wins these days. In fact, money beats just about anything. Pretty sad.

  13.7.2005 23:28 #1

• ricey1

  Ha im in Ireland Cant wait 4 my letter...lol
  

  14.7.2005 00:56 #2

• hego

  Hey im from ireland2, what exactly can you get sued for? (Im in enough depth as it is )like is it just for downloading songs, or do people have to download them from me to get me in2 trouble?

  14.7.2005 05:22 #3

• Dela

  Uploading. Research firm downloads a song from you, records your IP address, hands it with evidence to IRMA (or IFPI), ISPs can then be forced to give your personal info, you are sued!

  14.7.2005 07:19 #4

• hego

  I think ill be ok then, iv downloaded a load of songs from limewire and winmx but never let anyone download it from me, cheers... Iv given up an P2P's now anyway

  14.7.2005 08:17 #5

• ricey1

  ya think il b ok 2 fook them anyway
  never use p2p jus private torrent trackers
  should b ok there i hope but if not FOOK EM
  i aint goin stopping.

  14.7.2005 12:26 #6

• jaehomo

  is there any organisation like the EFF helping with these sort of cases in ireland? Maybe they could say whether the same privacy issue that arose in holland could be pointed to here...

  15.7.2005 06:39 #7

• ricey1

  The law in Ireland is up the wall`s
  the last thing that is going to make
  them worry is p2p downloading so i
  wouldnt worry 2 much.

  15.7.2005 06:54 #8

• Dela

  being irish i also have to point out the problems with law enforcement here, i know one guy for example who's in trouble for threatening someone with a knife.... he's bee charged for "firearms" ??? wtf??
  

  http://www.BillLonero.com - Check out a true artists music!
  
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  15.7.2005 07:18 #9

• whoozhe

  "unauthorized file sharing is illegal"
  Just where on any CD does it say that.
  If I send a file in a cake to any of those hard core downloading criminals would I be guilty of sharing a file?

  15.7.2005 10:24 #10

• moonstone

  I guess, I still struggle with the words "personal use" when it comes to making copies of any kind of format be it music or movies. It used to be that you tape recorded music off the radio to listen to, same with tv shows and movies, they were taped to VHS from your tv, for later viewing and listening pleasure. Now, we have the internet. Isn't it the same thing? Only a different method? I've also made the assumption that if I pay to download music then that website that I paid the $$ to is obtaining the music in a fair manner, or reimbursing someone.

  16.7.2005 20:42 #11

• neilm247

  I saw this in The Times a while ago where of course they wrote about some nonsense regarding downloaders getting the letters. On a related topic I read somewhere on the net that users needed a minimum of 500 songs to be shared for IRMA to proceed with "action". In the future this amount will be lowered but at the moment 500 is the magic number for IRMA.
  Would partial sharing of songs such as Bittorrent or other applications lead to prosecutions?

  17.7.2005 13:37 #12

• Ghostdog

  In Finland we have women named Irma.
  
  : )

  19.7.2005 11:21 #13

• runner121

  YEAH! Irma's cool name man

  19.7.2005 20:33 #14