Four music record companies have won a court order in Ireland overturning a ban placed on an anti-piracy policy operated by the country’s largest internet service provider (ISP).02 Jul 2012
In December last year Ireland’s data protection watchdog had issued an enforcement notice banning Eircom from operating its ‘three strikes’ system. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland (ODPC) had expressed concern that Eircom’s system of using IP addresses to identify alleged copyright infringers invades customers’ privacy, according to media reports at the time.
However, the Commercial Court in Ireland has ruled that the order given by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland (ODPC) be overturned on the basis that it had been invalid, according to a report by the Irish Times.
The ODPC failed to give reasons in the notice why it had served in the first place, the judge determined. The judge also said that the apparent reasons relied upon by the ODPC for it serving the notice “involved a misconstruction of the relevant law,” according to the Irish Times’ report.
Eircom’s ‘three strikes’ system warns customers suspected of illegal file-sharing that they face being cut off from the internet if they persist with the activity. The system, which Eircom agreed with EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner, had been approved by the Irish Government.
The ODPC would only tell Out-Law.com that it was “studying” the court’s ruling.
In 2010 Ireland’s High Court ruled that Eircom was able to monitor for illegal file-sharing after determining that the practice did not breach data protection laws.
