Irish Judge Rules that ISP Can't Be Forced Into Three Strikes System

The Irish High Court has ruled against the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), which was trying to obtain a court order, that would have forced UPC to disconnect file sharers from its network for repeated offenses.

Similar policy, commonly referred to as a three strikes rule, has already been introduced in countries like New Zealand, France and the United Kingdom, but was rejected in others.

The three strikes system implies a graduated response to Internet piracy, with ISPs sending three warning letters to customers caught sharing copyrighted material and then cutting their Internet access if they don't stop.

Back in February 2009, IRMA reached an out-of-court agreement with Eircom, the largest Internet service provider in Ireland, according to which the latter would enforce such a policy.

Under the deal, IRMA had to reach similar agreements with the rest of the ISPs, so that Eircom would not lose customers over it. But, UPC refused and the association took the issue to court.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Peter Charleton ruled that an injunction can't be imposed on UPC in this respect, because Ireland lacks the required legal framework, which he argued, is in contradiction with EU directives.

However, he did agree that EMI Records, Warner Music, Universal Music and Sony BMG, the record labels represented by IRMA, were suffering significant losses due to copyright infringement.

"This not only undermines their business but ruins the ability of a generation of creative people in Ireland, and elsewhere, to establish a viable living. It is destructive of an important native industry," the judge said, according to the Irish Times.

Meanwhile, UPC noted that the decision supports the principle that ISPs should not be liable for the traffic passing through their networks or the actions of its subscribers.

"UPC has repeatedly stressed that it does not condone piracy and has always taken a strong stance against illegal activity on its network," the company said in a public statement.

"It takes all steps required by the law to combat specific infringements which are brought to its attention and will continue to co-operate with rights holders where they have obtained the necessary court orders for alleged copyright infringements," it added.