EU will prevent introduction of Irish ‘three strikes’ rule
Irish internet service providers (ISPs)may not be legally allowed to implement a ‘three strikes’ disconnection rule, according to a new EU law.
Under new regulations approved by telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding, internet privacy and “fundamental freedoms’‘ will forbid ISPs to disconnect illegal file-sharers without judicial intervention.
The three-strikes rule is championed by the international music industry, which has seen its profits plummet in recent years. It has become law in France and is scheduled to become law in Britain next year.
“[Termination of internet access] may only be imposed . . . in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms . . . including effective judicial protection and due process,” says the telecoms reform directive, due to be transposed into European law next year.
“This new internet freedom provision represents a great victory for the rights and freedoms of European citizens,” said Reding.
“Three strikes laws, which could cut off internet access without a prior fair and impartial procedure or without effective and timely judicial review, will certainly not become part of European law.”
Reding said the creation of legal downloading services was a better way of dissuading the practice of illegal downloading.
A spokesman for Eircom confirmed that none of its customers had yet been disconnected from its broadband ser vice under the scheme.
