In 2009 Ireland was one of the first countries in the world to have an ISP block The Pirate Bay on copyright grounds. Eircom backed out of a court battle with the major music labels and blocked the site voluntarily.

Getting other providers to follow suit proved to be more difficult due to legal complications, but last year the ball was rolling again.

Following an action initiated by EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal against the ISPs UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, Hutchison 3G and Telefonica O2, in June 2013 the High Court gave the ISPs just 30 days to block The Pirate Bay.

After this success the labels moved on to their next target, KickassTorrents, or KAT for short. Following The Pirate Bay blockade KAT quickly took over the crown, and up until last week was one of the 25 most-visited websites in Ireland.

Hoping to significantly reduce this threat the record labels applied to the High Court to have local ISPs block subscriber access to KAT. The request was successful and Mr Justice Kelly ordered the new blockade in December.

This week most ISPs implemented the blockade, much to the disappointment of Irish KAT visitors.

Interestingly, Eircom, the largest Internet provider in the country, was not included in the court case, but together with several other ISPs chose to implement a block voluntarily. As a result, Eircom subscribers are now greeted with the following message when they attempt to access the site.

As with all blockades there are still plenty of workarounds that let people access the KAT site. Several users note that KAT proxies work just fine, and a VPN also lifts all restrictions.

Nevertheless, the music labels will celebrate the new blocks as a victory and, with KAT taken care of, they are likely to prepare another lawsuit targeted at the next large torrent site, continuing the game of Whack-A-Mole..

Update: The KAT team tells TorrentFreak that the traffic to their site is severely impacted by these blockades. They are advising users to use a VPN. Proxies are also an option, although people have to be careful as these are not officially run by KAT, so the proxy owner could harvest logins and passwords.

“We are still getting traffic from those countries where KAT is blocked. But its amount is significantly lower (up to 10% from what we had before).

“These measures can be be pretty effective when appropriate authorities react very quickly on domain or IP change. For example, for Italy it’s just 3 days.”

“Our suggestion would be to use VPN servers placed outside country where site is banned and user is actually present. Also it will have sense to start using Google DNS or similar service to bypass domain block.”

“As an alternative it’s also possible to start using any KAT mirrors. But all those mirrors are provided by 3d parties so we would not recommend to enter credentials while user are using them.”

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Ireland was one of the first countries in the world to have an ISP blockade of The Pirate Bay. ISP Eircom backed out of a court battle with the major labels represented by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and in 2009 blocked the site voluntarily.

Progress on having The Pirate Bay blocked by other ISPs then slowed due to legal issues, but once Ireland’s signing into law of the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 had been completed, the ball was rolling again.

Following an action initiated by EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal against the ISPs UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, Hutchison 3G and Telefonica O2, in June 2013 the High Court gave the service providers just 30 days to block The Pirate Bay.

Now, just as expected, the labels are back. In their crosshairs this time is KickassTorrents, the second most popular torrent site in the world. The early signs suggest that achieving success will be a walk in the park.

On Monday, Sony, Universal and Warner Music will head off to the High Court with demands that Ireland’s largest ISPs – Vodafone, UPC, O2, Digiweb and Hutchison 3G Ireland – block subscriber access to the site.

Speaking with the Irish Times, UPC – one of the few ISPs worldwide to aggressively contest blocking demands – confirmed it had been served with legal papers.

“UPC declined Irma’s request in pre-litigation correspondence to voluntarily block Kat. Our position is that ISPs should not, on a voluntary basis, choose what can or should be consumed by internet users. Such matters are for the government or the courts to decide,” the ISP said.

However, not all ISPs are taking such a strong line. Imagine, an ISP that was listed among the defendants in The Pirate Bay case, says it has informed the labels it will block KickassTorrents voluntarily if the defending ISPs lose their case.

IRMA chief Dick Doyle also confirmed that his group had reached agreements with several other ISPs in Ireland to block Kickass, even though they are not involved in the case. Aside from Eircom’s position against The Pirate Bay, this appears to be the first time that ISPs have agreed in bulk to block a file-sharing site voluntarily.

Success in this case for the labels, which appears to be almost guaranteed, will open up the possibility of even wider blockades in Ireland such as the ones across the water in the UK. And with ISPs now offering voluntary blocking if the conditions are right, the way seems smoother than ever before.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The decision was the result of a court case started by The Irish Recorded Music Association.

The labels claimed that the infamous torrent site was facilitating copyright infringement on a massive scale and the court agreed.

This week the 30-day period ends and the first ISPs including UPC have already implemented the block.

It appears that unlike in the UK the blockade is limited to the Pirate Bay. This means that affected users could easily bypass it by going to one of the many available Pirate Bay proxy sites.

At this point it is unknown whether the Irish music industry has plans to go after any other websites.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Fearing that innocent subscribers were affected by the plan, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner got involved, claiming the privacy of Internet subscribers was at stake.

The immediate outcome was bad for the labels as the commissioner ordered “3 strikes” to be brought to a halt on privacy grounds.

However, a few months later the four major record labels challenged this decision with success.

For a final decision the case went to the Supreme Court which decided to dismiss the appeal this week.

The court held that the commissioner could not specify why any provisions of the Data Protection Acts were contravened by the three-strikes scheme.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Their mission was partially completed when they squeezed a voluntary agreement from ISP Eircom in 2009. Ever since they have continued to push against several others in the hope of victory.

In a fresh process which began months ago EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal demanded that ISPs UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, Hutchison 3G and Telefonica O2 all stop facilitating access to The Pirate Bay.

In court at the end of May the labels argued that as many as 200,000 Irish ISP users access TPB every month, causing losses to the labels of around 20 million euros a year. This situation, they said, required a court order to force the ISPs to take action within 30 days.

The application by IRMA was the first of its kind since Ireland’s signing into law of the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012. Described by some as “Ireland’s SOPA“, the legislation was penned to make it easier for rightsholders to have sites such as The Pirate Bay blocked by court order. It appears to have done its job.

Today in the High Court, Mr Justice Brian McGovern granted the order and said he was satisfied that the new legislation permitted an infringing site blockade.

“There is no doubt but that this activity has caused, and continues to cause, substantial financial damage to the plaintiffs,” he said.

In common with similar orders out of the UK High Court, IRMA will not have to return to court for a fresh order should The Pirate Bay move around or change its setup in an attempt to avoid censorship.

Despite being innocent parties, the ISPs will have to swallow the costs of initiating the blockade. In line with IRMA’s demands they have just 30 days to do so, meaning that by mid July the majority of Ireland’s Internet users will have to find a new way to access the site, whether that be via proxies or VPNs.

It remains to be seen whether the ISPs will also block proxy sites as they did in the UK this week, but it is likely that the labels have learned from their past experiences making this a distinct possibility.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The Internet service providers – UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, Hutchison 3G and Telefonica O2 – are being targeted by IRMA, the Irish Recorded Music Association.

The group, which represents the major recording labels including EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal, wants ISPs to block subscriber access to TPB. IRMA’s application, currently before the Commercial Court, is supported by other rightsholder groups including the MPA, the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency and Games Ireland.

Last week the labels argued that as many as 200,000 Irish ISP users access TPB every month, causing collective losses to the labels of around 20 million euros a year. At the same time, they argued, TPB generates more than $30 million per year in advertising revenues.

The labels are seeking court orders which would force the ISPs to disable access to The Pirate Bay within 30 days. Clarity was also sought on whether the labels should have to return to court with a new application should The Pirate Bay change domain or switch IP addresses.

While none of the targeted ISPs expressed outright opposition to the application, UPC says that its previous stance of not cooperating voluntarily with the labels (it previously declined IRMA’s request in pre-litigation correspondence) remains the same.

“UPC’s position remains unchanged. Piracy in general is a collective and industry wide concern. From a UPC perspective, we firmly believe people should pay for content they consume,” the ISP said in a statement.

“As an industry, Pay-TV has pioneered encryption technology to prevent piracy of the TV signal. However, we have no visibility as to what users do online. Our position is that ISPs should not, on a voluntary basis, decide what can or should be consumed by users.”

The stance of UPC is important, not least since the blocking of The Pirate Bay is likely to be the tip of the iceberg. During an earlier hearing the labels revealed they have a list of some 260 “objectionable” websites to be targeted in future should this effort succeed.

“It is the government or the courts who are the appropriate body to make such determinations and we await Judge McGovern’s decision in this regard,” UPC concludes.

This latest action is the first of its kind since Ireland’s signing into law of the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012. Dubbed “the Irish SOPA“, the legislation should make it easier for rightsholders to have sites such as The Pirate Bay blocked by court order.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

IRMA took UPC to court after it refused to implement a three-strikes scheme, but the High Court sided with the ISP ruling that there are no laws that demand website blockades or file-sharers to be cut off.

This week, however, it transpires that both parties have been engaged in another court battle, one that has apparently been lost by UPC.

It appears that IRMA has taken UPC to court once again, this time with a concrete demand for the company to block access to The Pirate Bay. As a result, UPC users now see the following notice (removed, see update below) when they browse to The Pirate Bay.

“The Pirate Bay has been blocked. The website you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Further to a request from IRMA, the Irish Courts have ordered UPC to block access to The Pirate Bay website.”

The first user reports of the blockade came in yesterday morning but at the time only a few customers were affected. As the day progressed, more and more subscribers were redirected to the blocking notification.

Thus far UPC has yet to release a public statement, and according to user reports customer service representatives have not been briefed on the new change either. We were also unable to find a public record of the ruling, which appears to contradict a 2010 High Court verdict.

As noted, UPC has resisted IRMA’s demands to have The Pirate Bay blocked in Ireland in the past. However, the company’s Netherlands division was recently forced by The Court of The Hague to block the site after complaints from anti-piracy group BREIN.

Ireland is by no means the first country in Europe where the Pirate Bay is blocked by court order. Similar verdicts were previously handed down in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Finland.

Despite the blockade, UPC subscribers can still use The Pirate Bay through proxy sites, as happened massively in the UK earlier this year. There, the proxy site operated by the local Pirate Party is now among the 250 most visited websites in the region.

The above shows that while these blockades may stop some people from accessing a site, the really determined have plenty of options. Also, of those who simply give up on accessing The Pirate Bay, many will simply switch to other torrent sites.

Proof of the ineffectiveness of the censorship attempts was recently highlighted by several Dutch and UK Internet providers, who claimed that BitTorrent traffic didn’t decline after the blockades were implemented.

In other words, blocking The Pirate Bay doesn’t appear to have the desired effect.

On the contrary, The Pirate Bay team believes that they benefit from the blockades and that all the press attention serves as promotion. And they may have a point as the BitTorrent site continues to break traffic records week after week.

Finally, it is worth noting that although ISPs over the water in the UK are also “forced” by court order to block The Pirate Bay, they have put up little resistance in court. UPC customers will be hoping that their ISP did rather more in this case.

Update: The mystery has been solved. UPC says the blockade was just a test. The company does not explain why IRMA or a court order were mentioned on the redirect page.

TorrentFreak received the following message:

“UPC Ireland’s position has not changed. UPC is not required by any court or authority to block the pirate bay and does not intend to voluntarily block the pirate bay. Periodically testing is carried out across our European network which may have been observed by Irish customers.”

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Dubbed ‘SOPA Ireland,’ the copyright law amendment makes it possible for rightsholders to obtain an injunction against sites they deem to be infringing.

While the US SOPA is much broader, the Irish version was met with great opposition.

80,419 people petitioned their ministers not to pass the amendment, but this was in vain.

With the amendment signed into law opponents fear the worst.

“We can expect the music industry to immediately start seeking injunctions against ISPs to block access to parts of the internet,” Stop SOPA Ireland writes.

Despite the announcement of the upcoming blocking legislation, record label EMI still sued the Irish state for its lacking anti-piracy stance.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The case had been brought by the major labels (headed by EMI) against local ISP UPC in an attempt to force it to block Internet piracy.

“It is not surprising that the legislative response laid down in our country in the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, at a time when this problem was not perceived to be as threatening to the creative and retail economy as it has become in 2010, has made no proper provision for the blocking, diverting or interrupting of internet communications intent on breaching copyright,” Justice Charleton’s judgment began.

The Judge noted that by not having this legislative mechanism in place, Ireland is non-compliant with its obligations under European law.

To address this situation and to appease the labels, late 2011 the government promised to publish an order early this year that would allow rightsholders to go to court to prevent the country’s ISPs from supplying a service which could provide access to infringing sites.

But despite the promises from Ireland’s Minister of State for Enterprise, EMI – who previously threatened to sue the state if they didn’t take the action promised in the previous paragraph – seem to have run out of patience before January even completes its second week.

Yesterday, EMI Records (Ireland) filed a lawsuit against the Irish state for failure to correctly implement certain provisions of EU copyright law.

Lawyer and lecturer at University College Dublin, TJ McIntyre, believes that the labels will rely on a principle under which damages against a state are possible if three conditions are met.

“First, that the result prescribed by the directive should entail the grant of rights to individuals; secondly, that it should be possible to identify the content of those rights on the basis of the provisions of the directive,” he writes.

McIntyre adds that the third condition, that there should be a “causal link” between the breach of the State’s obligation and the losses suffered by (in this case) the labels, could prove problematic.

“Establishing a causal link between Irish law and filesharing will be difficult, particularly given the evidence from elsewhere that blocking is ineffective,” he concludes.

Site blocking could be a last resort for the record labels. Following an investigation into the legality of a 3 strikes-style regime operated by Irish ISP Eircom, in December the country’s Data Protection Commissioner ordered the practice to be brought to a halt on privacy grounds.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Thus far, they have booked minor successes in Denmark and The Netherlands. But they show no sign of stopping and now they are moving on to Irish and Norwegian ISPs.

This week the music industry sent an email to several Internet providers in Ireland, asking the companies to block their users’ access to The Pirate Bay or face legal action. In a response to this request, Eircom said it would agree and the ISP will block customers access to the Pirate Bay starting September 1st.

Thus far Eircom is the only ISP that has caved in to the threatening letter. UPC and BT Ireland – two other local ISPs – explicitly denied the request from the music industry and said they would rather fight the issue out in court.

“UPC has informed the rights holders that there is no basis under Irish law requiring an ISP to block access to certain websites and that it will not agree to a request that goes beyond what is currently provided for under Irish law,” UPC said in a statement.

“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,” they add. BT Ireland sides with UPC and said that there is no legal basis for the request to block The Pirate Bay.

Eircom’s decision to agree to the demands from the music industry doesn’t come as a big surprise. Earlier this year they already reached an agreement in which they promised to warn alleged pirates, and disconnect those who are caught repeatedly.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.