Andre Yoskowitz
21 Aug 2009 0:50
The Irish ISP Eircom will begin blocking traffic to the public torrent tracker The Pirate Bay on September 1st, doing what many other Irish ISPs have refused to.
Thanks to a settlement with the Big 4 record labels in January, Eircom already uses a three-strikes law for pirates who are repeat offenders. The deal also had a clause that stated access must be cut off to the Pirate Bay if requested.
Just this week, the ISP UPC said it would not comply with the label's request to block traffic to the Pirate Bay. “Should the rights holders proceed with their threat of legal action if UPC fails to block access to Pirate Bay, UPC has every intention of vigorously defending its position in court,” added a company spokesperson, via The Irish Times.
Justice Peter Charleton of the High Court issued the blocking order in July, added that the music being "stolen" is “by hard-working artists, some of whom indeed may be very wealthy, but some of whom may be trying to do their very best to making a living out of what they love”.
BT Ireland, another ISP, also refused to block the traffic, claiming "there is no legal basis for such a request”.