INTERNET
IRMA warning letter goes public
26-02-2009
by Ralph Averbuch
Recent activity by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) has been made public by hosting provider Blacknight Solutions.
Despite not providing consumer ISP or broadband services, Blacknight, along with other Irish ISPs, received a warning letter demanding that it operate a 'graduated response' to any IP addresses which IRMA believes is involved in illegal file-sharing. The letter reminds other Irish ISPs that Eircom has already agreed to comply with this request.
Blacknight MD Michele Neylon stated that he was 'a bit taken aback' at receiving the letter from IRMA, which represents companies including EMI, Sony, Universal Music and Warner.
On Blacknight's official blog Neylon explains, "The only reason I'm even writing this is because I'm getting a bit tired of all the "quotes" of "quotes" and other unclear and misleading things that people have been saying about ISPs over the last few weeks." He then re-publishes the full contents of the warning letter which can be viewed as a PDF.
However, in contrast to the recent actions of other organisations, he makes it clear that the only way Blacknight will remove or release customer information is with a court order. "Demanding that ISPs act as a replacement for the judicial system, due process and all those lovely things that we expect in a democracy, is unreasonable. Apart from anything else the privacy issues cannot be ignored."
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