Irish ISP Eircom has made an agreement with the four majors to disconnect users who download music illegally.
Eircom declined to instigate the labels’ proposal to install software to detect the ‘fingerprint’ of copyrighted music files being distributed via its network, as it feared this could affect its broadband service and break privacy laws.
Instead, Eircom said it would disconnect users who continue to user peer-to-peer services to unlawfully download music after two warnings.
The unilateral three-strikes measure mirrors government-backed proposals set to be implemented in New Zealand and France. In the U.K., a memorandum of understanding exists between six major ISPs and the music industry, whereby the ISPs will write to any of its customers who have been identified as using peer-to-peer services to distribute music illegally.
In November, a Danish court ordered an ISP, Sonofon, to block the Pirate Bay, a popular file-sharing site based in Sweden.
The move by Eircom is part of a settlement reached after proceedings in an Irish court on Wednesday (Jan. 28). The majors will supply Eircom with the IP addresses of people they detect illegally uploading or downloading copyrighted works.
“High Court proceedings… have been settled on an amicable basis with both sides expressing satisfaction with the outcome,” Eircom said in a joint statement with the record companies.
“The record companies have agreed that they will take all necessary steps to put similar agreements in place with all other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Ireland,” said Eircom, which claims to be Ireland’s biggest telecommunications supplier.
