I reported this story a few weeks ago and this new article fills in some of the blanks, lets catch up to the story so far...
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9443/Irish+Record+Industry+Sues+ISP+for+Illegal+File-Sharing+on+its+NetworkEarly last week it was reported that Eircom, the Ireland-based ISP, had formally rejected claims by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) that it be held responsible for any instances of copyright infringement that may occur on its broadband network.
The case was first initiated last March and it was just last week that Eircom formally filed a defense rejecting the IRMA claims by arguing that it's not responsible for the illegal actions of its customers. The judge in the case, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, said he expected for the trial to be held sometime in July.
For its part, the Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has condemned the court action and its chairman, a barrister, said that the case has no basis in Ireland's Copyright Act.
"ISPs are intermediaries. They are not, in law, responsible for what internet users do, any more than [the post office] is responsible for what individuals send in the mail," said TJ McIntyre, chairman of DRI. "In fact, European law specifically states that they may not be put under a general obligation to monitor the information they transmit."
I,ll keep you up to date on this one but it looks an open and shut case as we all know under European and Irish law its illegal to monitor a private citzens web traffic without a court order/warrant.
