INTERNET
Eircom facing legal action from record firms
11-03-2008
by
Four of the largest record companies in Ireland are suing Eircom for failing to prevent illegal music downloads over its networks.
The action is being brought by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Records, Universal Music and Warner Music against Eircom under the Copyright and Related Rights Acts 2000. The four labels want Eircom to take specific measures, such as implementing filtering technology, to prevent its networks being used for the illegal downloading of sound recordings. The case was admitted into the list of the Commercial Court on Monday by Justice Peter Kelly.
The proceedings arose after the State's largest broadband provider told the four labels in October 2007 that it was not in a position to run filter software on its servers.
This case marks the first time an Irish internet service provider has been sued for allowing illegal downloads, rather than going after individual file-sharers. The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) has said that actions against individuals have proven to be costly and time-consuming.
According to Willie Kavanagh, managing director of EMI records (Ireland) and chairman of IRMA (Irish Recorded Music Association), the Irish market for sound recordings suffered a 30 percent decrease in total sales from EUR146 million in 2001 to EUR102 million last year. Kavanagh went on to say that the Irish music industry is experiencing "a dramatic and accelerating decline in income" as a result of illegal downloads and other market factors.
In the affidavit Kavanagh attributed a substantial portion of the fall in sales to the increase in illegal downloads, which has been made possible by the wider availability of broadband. This increase has occurred despite an awareness campaign by IRMA dissuading users from downloading illegal recordings, Kavanagh argued. He claimed that music downloaders came from all walks of life and that many young people have never had to pay for recordings.
Kavanagh has argued that Eircom knows users are violating the property rights of record companies "on a grand scale". However, Eircom's lawyers are reported to have said the telecoms firm was not on notice of specific illegal activity that infringed copyright and had no legal obligation to monitor traffic on its network.
Back in June 2007, the High Court ordered Digiweb, BT, Smart Telecom, Irish Broadband, NTL, Eircom and Imagine to hand over the identities of 23 people reportedly involved in sharing copyrighted music online.
Later in 2007 the advisor to the European Court of Justice, advocate general Juliane Kokott, said telecoms firms in Europe aren't required to disclose information on customers in civil copyright infringement cases.
Kokott's opinion came as a result of a case brought after telecoms firm Telefonica refused to give Spanish music association Promusicae identifying information for customers that were suspected to be using file sharing program Kazaa to share copyrighted files.
Both Eircom and IRMA declined to comment to ENN when contacted. The case will re-appear before the court in April.
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