Minister of State Sean Sherlock
has said he still plans to introduce a statutory instrument to amend
copyright legislation in the near future despite concerns expressed
about its potential impact on internet access.
The matter was raised as a topical issue in the Dáil today by
Independent TD Catherine Murphy, who said further discussion was needed
before any changes were made to the law.
An
online petition opposing the proposed amendment has continued to grow, recording over 48,000 signatures since it began earlier this week.
Opponents fear that the change could potentially see court orders blocking popular sites like YouTube and Facebook.
There are also concerns that the law could make Ireland less
attractive to technology start-ups and multinational companies like
Google.
In the Dáil today, Deputy Murphy said there was a fear that copyright
holders could use the amended legislation to force Internet Service
Providers like UPC and Eircom into blocking popular websites because a
single user is found to have infringed on intellectual property.
Deputy Murphy said such a complex issue would better dealt with
through primary legislation and that TDs faced a "hurricane storm" of
anger from the public if people were not satisfied with the way the
issue was handled.
In response, Deputy Sherlock said the planned amendment "merely
re-stated an existing position" and was being introduced to ensure that
Ireland complied with a European directive on the matter.
He insisted the change was not comparable to the controversial SOPA
bill that has been drafted in the United States and that it was not the
intention of the Government to limit the freedom of the internet.
Deputy Sherlock said any judge considering an injunction would have
to balance the rights of a copyright holder with those afforded to ISPs
and users under ecommerce and freedom of expression directives.
He offered to have further discussion on the matter - however Mr
Sherlock could not say if that would happen before the statutory
instrument was put in place.
He also said primary legislation may ultimately be required to deal
with the issue but that no changes would solve the problem of piracy as
the internet tends to adapt to "circumnavigate" new laws.
He said there was a need for ISPs, copyright holders and members of
the industry in Ireland to sit down voluntarily in order to find a
solution that protected everyone's interests.
Protests in Poland over anti-piracy agreement
Yesterday thousands of young Poles hit city streets across the
country in a mounting wave of off-and-online protest against a
government decision to sign an international anti-online piracy accord.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which Poland's Prime
Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to endorse, aims to create international
standards for intellectual property protection.
However, Internet groups including global hacker collective Anonymous oppose it as limiting online freedoms.
Poland, an ex-communist state which joined the EU in 2004, has committed to signing ACTA today.
A protest by thousands organised largely via Facebook in the central
Polish city of Kielce yesterday turned violent when some protesters
trashed cars and attacked police, the commercial TVN24 news channel
reported.
Protesters also turned out for anti-ACTA rallies in Wroclaw, Szczecin, Olsztyn and Bialystok.
Online protest pages on Facebook have attracted more than 300,000
supporters, while an anti-ACTA online petition had drawn about 130,000
signatures by yesterday evening.
Protesters are upset Mr Tusk's government pushed ahead with ACTA
after meetings with commercial media, but held no public consultations
with online rights groups.
SOURCE : RTE NEWS 26th JANUARY 2012
