Is Ireland about to pass its own SOPA?

[Jack]

Any day now, the Government of Ireland will sign a statutory instrument that will give courts the power to grant orders to ISPs and other entities suspected of infringing copyright. This will be done at the stroke of a minister’s pen and without any parliamentary debate.

Forces of protest are being assembled in the form of an online petition at Stop SOPA Ireland. In addition, legal blogger TJ McIntyre has penned a very useful FAQ on the matter.

Effectively, despite a decision by the European Court of Justice on 24 November that EU law precludes injunctions being taken against internet service providers (ISPs), requiring them to block users from illegally sharing music and video files, Ireland is pressing ahead regardless.

It is expected to be published on 26 January.

At the same time, it appears the Government is being sued by the major record labels for not rolling out the statutory instrument fast enough.

Read more...

 

[MrXidus]

Oh dear, Not good at all. Australia has had ACTA since 2009. I never knew, But this SOPA is just a bad luck charm. No country needs it and these corporate controlled money hungry politicians need to let this garbage go.
We'll see how this goes for Ireland.

 

[Jack]

Well at least they'll need a court order in order to block a website....... The corporations are pushing really hard in order to create what they call a 'civilized internet', a place where they can make even more money......
Below you can watch a very interesting video about Copyright.....

 

[Jack]

And as expected with any big international event Anonymous (the kids who love to be in the center of attention) DDoS some Irish Government sites... Read more > GAnonymous Targets Government Sites in Irish SOPA Protest

 

[Tom172]

One interesting point. Junior Minister Sean Sherlock himself often points to the fall of sales (and in turn, tax) on CD's and DVD's which the government related to a massive rise in piracy. Take a closer look things and it's obvious that this is more the result of a change in the industry (Legal download services). A lack of insight is clearly visible by the Irish government and Sherlock.