Victory For Irish File Sharers Dashed By Government Report 77
2phar writes "The Irish Government is 'to publish an order early in the new year to allow music publishers, film producers and other parties to go to court to prevent ISPs from allowing their customers access to "pirate" websites.' The government has 'written to music publisher EMI Ireland confirming the order will be published and incorporated into existing legislation in January ... EMI Ireland recently warned the Government that it would take legal action against the State if the Government did not address the problem.'"
This is a response to a ruling that Eircom's current "three strikes" rules were illegal due to privacy issues.
Go green. (Score:4, Funny)
Ireland. You're now our bitch. Bend over and take it like the sissy you are.
-RiAA
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Ireland. You're now our bitch. Bend over and take it like the sissy you are.
-RiAA
Ireland. You're now our bitch. Bend over and take it like the sissy you are.
-RiAA
Yep.
In particular this gobsheen: http://twitter.com/seansherlocktd
The "technology fella in de government who looks after the mp trees and de music pods" who made the decision, pushed it through, and is defending it so as to "fix" the ruling in the previous court case.
He was spokesman for agriculture prior to getting into government and being given this new role.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Dear RiAA,
We recognize that you prevent a world full of honest musicians from making a living by monopoly of industry. You give intangible songs value and charge for them while those not chosen as slaves by you languish, barely able to scrape a living in pubs if at all. In a working world, there is no "music industry" and all musicians promote themselves by giving away music to increase their publicity and charge for performances. By charging f
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
The RiAA can expect a visit from the IRA soon.
You mean the guys who couldn't even beat a bunch of effete Englishmen?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Reminds me of what my grandpa always used to say: "Kid...a bird belongs in the sky, a fish belongs in the water, and an Irishman belongs on his knees."
It wasn't a victory for "File Sharers" (Score:2)
"File Sharers" has a bad connotative definition, justly or not, because of the marketing against 'file sharing' being bad. ...but back on point....
Email, IMs, text messages, VOIP, regular phone calls, are all forms of "file sharing", depending on how you look at it.
The previous court finding was a victory common sense, good judgement, and for those in power having a basic understanding of how technology works.
Re: (Score:3)
"hacker" has the same connotations these days - often it comes from someone either missing the point, or attributing the negative actions from a few people to the entire demographic.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There's always proxies... (Score:2, Informative)
Looks like TOR and other proxy/tunneling services and procedures are about to get a lot more popular in the Republic of Ireland...
Re: (Score:1)
Are you some kind of shill? Anyone who really cares enough will pay. If not, it should not be up to the state to enforce the business models of entertainment companies. When you're throwing out thousand dollar fines to kid for pressing a few buttons on a computer for some music, it's time to hang up the skates, it's over, no more laws keeping your revenue stream up.
When we create replicators for material objects like computers can copy information, I'd hope patent laws would be removed altogether as well
Re: (Score:1)
Re:There's always proxies... (Score:5, Informative)
Don't use TOR for torrents, it bogs the network down while some guy is trying to leak info from China before the government goons bust the door down. Use I2P if you want to run torrents over a darknet.
New corporate overlords (Score:5, Insightful)
> EMI Ireland recently warned the Government
Ok, so now corporations not only sue people, they openly threaten governments of legal action, and governments chicken out and pass laws that restrict people's freedom. Can we yet declare a new feudal regime?
Re: (Score:2)
irish gov. should have warned EMI Ireland that they might them illegal - and that the fall of cd sales is simply because irish economy went to the gutter after 2006. blocking websites chosen by emi will not affect that at all. suppose emi ireland decides that it's illegal for the irish to buy music from google music and itunes..
the EU law doesn't need what they're claiming anyways.
Re:New corporate overlords (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder how Irish election campaigns are funded?
Re: (Score:2)
Cyberpunk in the making.
Re: (Score:2)
We are well into a cyberpunk dystopia, it just doesn't look that way because the fashion never caught on (and to add insult to injury, we got fucking tight jeans for men instead!)
Re: (Score:1)
I don't know, the hipster style and current nerd-chic looks alot like cyberpunk style.
and if you go to the shitholes of the world, it has all the dirt, debauchery, and destruction that was foretold in cyberpunk literature.
Bonus points if you visit detroit and have your hacker crew setup shop in an abandoned highrise.
Re: (Score:3)
Meh, i don't think the punk part of cyberpunk was ever about the music and fashion.
I think we find a clearer meaning of it in "the street finds its one use for things". This in that kids with a lot of smarts, and not much fear of the authorities beaten into them, will take technology and use it in ways never intended by the powers that be.
Re: (Score:2)
There's no law that says you have to dress like everybody else. Tight jeans? Screw that!
Re: (Score:2)
Corporations sue governments for some 80 years, welcome to the club. They usually choose not to because it's bad for their business in that country. However, if they are arrogant enough and have "special relationship" with politicians, then this threat is not only legal step, but also psychological one - do not dare to cross us, you are in our pocket.
Re: (Score:2)
The sensible government can simply pass laws that:
Make suing the government/country illegal
Counter sue the company (under it's own laws)
Make the company illegal....
Re: (Score:3)
"Make suing the government/country illegal"
Not sensible, but suicidal. Also so far I have seen no country (except North Korea and Stalin time USSR) who would not allow it's peers rise issue in highest constitutional court. Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. You can't cherry pick restrictions in normal working democracy. Sooner or later they are thrown out.
Also you couldn't be part of any normal treaty, as they require issues to solve in different international courts. No treaty, no exports, no money fr
The lesser of two evils (Score:4, Interesting)
So you're not going to be hauled over the coals through a three strikes system - WIN!
Certain sites may be blocked - Meh.
If you really want to get to a site you'll get to it either via tor, running your own DNS, or via a VPN. I'd take this system over a three strikes any day.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The lesser of two evils (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd take this system over a three strikes any day.
Why take any system at all?
Sovereign immunity? (Score:3)
I guess Ireland has no concept of sovereign immunity, or is this a result of how the EU is structured?
Re: (Score:3)
Blame the US' puppet organisation the WTO for this sort of thing, not the EU.
Re:Sovereign immunity? (Score:4, Insightful)
Blame the WTO's puppet organisation the US for this sort of thing, not the EU.
Fixed that for you.
Re:Sovereign immunity? (Score:5, Informative)
The US created the WTO to enforce US style IP laws across the globe because WIPO wasn't playing ball due to the fact it was democratic and the small African nations wanting cheap drugs to keep their people alive outvoted the US and it's strong IP law lobby.
WTO is very much the US' puppet organisation and not vice versa. This is also why the US pushes countries to sign up to it and adhere to it's rulings, whilst simultaneously ignoring rulings against it by the WTO itself.
I'm not sure how one could claim the WTO is in charge of the US when the whole US the WTO exists is to push US trade policy and the subvert the previously more rational, fair, and democratic nature of WIPO. They're both shit now though, in order to avoid becoming obsolete, WIPO is now adhering to the US line, which is just what the US wanted.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, no doubt it acts as a convenient scapegoat for implementing unpopular laws that favour corporate lobbyists and so forth also.
Re:freedom of speech... (Score:4, Insightful)
Just imagine if the progress of science was bound by "intellectual property" - we'd still be in the dark ages. Human culture has always revolved around the sharing of culture, whether that means singing songs around a campfire or viral youtube videos, sharing is in our nature.
Re:freedom of speech... (Score:5, Insightful)
So.... where do you live? If you answer United States i'm going to piss myself laughing so hard.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:freedom of speech... (Score:4, Funny)
So you don't live in the USA - Where laws allowing companies to do this were created?
Or Europe - where they apply
Or any other 1st world nation - who have signed up ...
Or Any 3rd world nation who owe enough to bow to the corporations
which leaves repressive dictatorships...
So you don't live on Earth ? - Life does exist on other planets ...!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
lol
Unethical to buy music (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the music-industry is hostile to free speech. It is not ethical to buy their music. Use creative-commons or small, independent labels instead.
Wait, what? (Score:5, Interesting)
EMI Ireland recently warned the Government that it would take legal action against the State if the Government did not address the problem.
"We'll sue you if you don't change your laws"?! On what basis? Did I just misunderstand that sentence?
Re: (Score:3)
International agreements, like "protection of investment", also you can base your claim on constitution.
They can sue government (aka Ireland) for this. No one says they would win. But as it seems these threats are quite enough for government.
Re: (Score:2)
And the winner gets... a new form of progressive tax! A tax that increases 10% per year!
Seriously, if a government can't squash any corporation like a bug, it's not a government worth having.
Re: (Score:2)
On the basis of lost (potential) profits, perhaps?
Note the potential there, as while i think that is their logic i do not consider it a valid one. Never mind the old economic axiom of government having no business keeping a old business case afloat, tho it often seems to imply "unless the business tells them to do so". The last bit based on the axiom being called upon by business only when it favors them, either as now or as a reason for letting a company shut down its operations and move abroad.
Re: (Score:1)
No surprise (Score:2)
Don't be surprised by this, the Irish government has history on bowing to lobby groups. The government got billions from the European Union (Brussels) to vote FOR a treaty that was AGAINST the people's interests in having it signed. However with a totally one sided BS campaign of lies by the Irish government, the people voted to sign away Ireland to Brussels control, and the government got it's blood money in return.
As a side comment, will the Irish be blocked from accessing Canadian websites due to the Can
Re: (Score:2)
I am not surprised by the Irish government, the last time Scotland got into serious debt (Darien Crisis) it signed away it's sovereignty completely ...
Brilliant News - We need this. (Score:2)
File sharing technologies have been evolved to provide the maximum amount of convenience to as many users as possible. An inconvenient system results in too few users for a file share network to be sustainable. The goal of organisations is to reduce the number of users. The goal of sharers is to increase it.
The "Three Strikes Law" enabled organisations to state that they will catch people file-sharing and cut off their connection. We have to persuade users (most being non-technical) that the technology we
moving out (Score:2)
EMI aint broke? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you have enough money to go round suing governments, piracy must not be cutting very deep into the bottom line.
What the hell is going on? (Score:2)
The US Federal Government seizes websites on claims of copyright and trademark infringement, congress proposes bills (SOPA and PROTECT-IP) that force American ISPs to block websites accused of such infringement, and now we hear that Ireland wants to force ISPs to block alleged "pirate" websites? Is this all just coincidence, or is there a coordinated effort afoot to impose these kinds of restrictions on as many sovereign nations as possible?
Meeting tonight, 8pm, Long Stone, 2 Townend St,Dub (Score:2)
This is a topic for tonight's monthly meeting of Irish Free Software Organisation:
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/fsfe-ie/2011-December/003005.html [fsfeurope.org]
Other mail starting the discussion:
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/fsfe-ie/2011-December/003006.html [fsfeurope.org]