This gubberment is going after the pirates.

ejmaztec

Didn't the previous shower back down on this?


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2011/1219/1224309259318.html?via=mr

Illegal downloading to be curbed by Government order

BARRY O'HALLORAN
THE GOVERNMENT is set to tackle illegal downloading of music and films in January by plugging a gap in the Republic’s laws that allows internet users access to sites that “pirate” this material.
Minister of State for Enterprise Seán Sherlock is to publish an order early in the new year that is expected to allow music publishers, film producers and other parties to go to court to prevent internet service providers from allowing their customers access to pirate websites.
The Department of Enterprise, Innovation and Jobs has written to music publisher EMI Ireland confirming the order will be published and incorporated into existing legislation in January. Mr Sherlock also said in a written answer to a parliamentary question that the order, or statutory instrument, would be published next month.
EMI Ireland recently warned the Government that it would take legal action against the State if the Government did not address the problem.
Its chief executive, Willie Kavanagh, is not ruling out going ahead with this if the statutory order does not give companies such as his a clear right to seek court injunctions against internet service providers that allow access to music and video piracy websites.
His company was involved in the High Court case that originally highlighted the loophole in Irish law in October last year.
EMI sought an injunction against UPC, ordering it to block access to websites that allowed illegal downloading. While the court found that EMI’s rights were breached, Mr Justice Peter Charleton pointed out that he could not grant the injunction as the Copyright Act did not provide for this remedy.
Mr Justice Charleton pointed out that such a provision was needed to bring the Republic’s legislation into line with EU law.
Official figures show that CD sales in the Republic fell from €146 million in 2006 to €56 million last year.
The industry says that changes in consumption patterns are only partly to blame for this, and point at illegal downloading as another culprit. Mr Kavanagh said illegal downloading has been a key culprit in his business losing €60 million in revenues over the last six years.
The problem is also stretching to film. Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures, producer of this year’s Irish hit The Guard, says the problem is posing a threat to employment in his industry.
He also points out that the State, which supports the industry through Film Board funding and tax breaks, is losing as it is missing out on VAT returns from DVD and cinema ticket sales.

smash

Doubt they'll get away with it. Not everything on sites like the pirate bay are illegal or copyright.

And this bs:
"Official figures show that CD sales in the Republic fell from €146 million in 2006 to €56 million last year."

Seriously, People use itunes etc ffs.

ScumLord

I don't think I could go back to buying DVDs in a shop, it's so archaic, annoying and just a pointless exercise that the record companies insist on forcing you through to give them money they barely deserve.

I hope it all collapses, it's the best possible outcome IMO.

o1s1n

I hate to be taking the hippy approach, but how about enviornmental factors? Surely a massive drop in CD production can only be good for the planet.

Seachmall

"plugging a gap in the Republic’s laws that allows internet users access to sites that “pirate” this material."

That article makes it sound like they're not blocking torrent tracker sites, but the writer might just be a retard. I'd like to see how they word this law.

RichieC

This is just an excuse to make the internet more friendly for the eztablisbed powers. just as SOPA is in the states.


wait and see... the internet terrifies the establishment.

chin_grin

Won't somebody think of the advertisers!? :pac:

Fear Uladh

o1s1n wrote: »

I hate to be taking the hippy approach, but how about enviornmental factors? Surely a massive drop in CD production can only be good for the planet.

Not good for EMIs profits or the governments brown envelopes.

ScumLord

o1s1n wrote: »

Surely a massive drop in CD production can only be good for the planet.

A massive drop in feckless fame whores like Brittany and the name of the rest of them would also be great for the environment and the public in general. They soak up to many resources just to sing a song.

bluto63

Going after the service providers? That's just pathetic. They can't isolate every pirate website out there. It's asking too much.

Chuck Stone

Fuck 'em.

Music companies in particular have been ripping people and artists off for decades.

Many artists are now releasing their stuff on the principle that people download it for free and then pay if they like it and/or want the artist to produce more.

youcancallmeal

Its almost scary how much that article displays a complete mis-comprehension of the situation. I don't know if its the journalist or the government but I'm quite happy that they are kept busy pursuing this policy of getting ISPs to block access to torrent sites. Meanwhile anyone with a vague understanding of the internet will pick one of the many ways around these 'measures'.

RichieC

who doesnt like playing whack a mole?

starbelgrade

The problem is also stretching to film. Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures, producer of this year’s Irish hit The Guard, says the problem is posing a threat to employment in his industry.

Well, maybe if he stopped producing shite like the Guard & produced something with even a half decent script, direction & editing, then maybe, just maybe, he'd make a few more quid out of it.The same applies across the board in both film & music... if the quality is there, people are willing to pay for it.

wes

smash wrote: »

And this bs:
"Official figures show that CD sales in the Republic fell from €146 million in 2006 to €56 million last year."

Seriously, People use itunes etc ffs.

Good point, also there is a recession, and pretty much everyone is taking a hit in the sale department.

Also, the web site blocking has been easily circumvented in the countries where this sort of thing has already been done.

Nothingbetter2d

most modern music (crap if u ask me) comes from xfactor now anyways... no more need for cds when all you have to do is turn on the tv

Voodu Child

I hope the govenment ban motor cars too because I have seen sales of my horse-drawn carriages fall by over 50% since 2006.

Standard Toaster

smash wrote: »

Doubt they'll get away with it. Not everything on sites like the pirate bay are illegal or copyright.

And this bs:
"Official figures show that CD sales in the Republic fell from €146 million in 2006 to €56 million last year."

Seriously, People use itunes etc ffs.

They'll be telling you next how much cassette sales have fallen over the past two decades.

RichieC

wes wrote: »

smash wrote: »

And this bs:
"Official figures show that CD sales in the Republic fell from €146 million in 2006 to €56 million last year."

Seriously, People use itunes etc ffs.

Good point, also there is a recession, and pretty much everyone is taking a hit in the sale department.

Also, the web site blocking has been easily circumvented in the countries where this sort of thing has already been done.

mw3 broke the fastest earning record this year. it beat avatar. its all bollocks tbh. artists earn playing gigs

this is why I suspect alterior motives with these internet crackdowns.

smash

The more I read that article the more annoyed I'm getting about the lack of actual journalism involved in that piece, it's utter ****e...

With services like netflicks, iTunes and even basics Sky Movies for christ sake there's bound to be drops in sales of DVD and CD.

Snakeblood

Voodu Child wrote: »

I hope the govenment ban motor cars too because I have seen sales of my horse-drawn carriages fall by over 50% since 2006.

Well maybe if you didn't have shit horses this wouldn't have happened.

Coriolanus

TOR

That is all.

ejmaztec

Standard Toaster wrote: »

They'll be telling you next how much cassette sales have fallen over the past two decades.

Bring back 78rpm and mono. Yay

Wetai

Eircom will be first to block everything - they've already done TPB; they must think it's the only torrent site or something :rolleyes:

Genghiz Cohen

A CD shop opened in Carlow for the Christmas, I drag my friends into it just for the novelty of being in a CD shop.

mikom

THE GOVERNMENT is set to tackle illegal downloading of music and films in January by plugging a gap in the Republic’s laws that allows internet users access to sites that “pirate” this material.

AHa ha ha.
Good luck with that.

My name is URL

How dare they try to interfere with our God given right to consume media without paying for it

Wetai

My name is URL wrote: »

How dare they try to interfere with our God given right to consume media without paying for it

It's balanced out, they expect people to pay for media without 'consuming' it.

Duggy747

Won't be a bother for those who know their way around the web.

Honestly, it's hardly a shock such measures are coming. The internet though is too big and has been such a mess for so long it's hard to regulate or contain any of it without seeming like Totalitarianist overlords.

Prices just need to be dropped, iTunes was able to make legal downloads workable in an otherwise unworkable market that nobody else dared to touch.

Freddie59

Load of bollix. I'm currently transferring my (legally purchased) DVDs to a media player for convenience. Can you actually download movies legally, like music on iTunes? I note that some DVDs for sale in the shops are a 'triple play', DVD, BluRay, and 'Digital Copy'.

The way of the future?

Seachmall

My name is URL wrote: »

How dare they try to interfere with our God given right to consume media without paying for it

How dare they go about it by passing laws that force a separate industry to follow their directions and prevent users from accessing entirely legal websites all while ignoring EU rulings.

k.p.h

Do any of these people even know how the internet works, the simple idea "lets block stuff", is actually completely impossible.

Sure at a certain level they can block access to sites, but their are millions of sites out their. Once you get to a certain level it's just electromagnetic signals travelling through a wire. it's either on or off, their is no monitoring.

If ISP's come in at a higher level and start blocking stuff users will just drop a level lower and figure a way from downloading from their. It's not that hard read a how too guide..!

Too long as the software and media/entertainment industry's be monopolised, and people forced to pay for stuff weather it was crap or not.

<Insert massive rant here> ....

The reason I have not bothered to articulate my rant is because it is completely pointless, downloading is a thing of the past anyway, current broadband standards have reached a level where live streaming is the obvious method of view content, while EMI worry about physical sales artists worry about getting the work/ content out their. It is almost impossible to be successful these days without making their work available this way.

Who is going to be downloading music in the coming years when it is their on demand to their live wifi enabled Tv/HiFi.

In regard to software, 3 years ago 95% of devices connected to the internet were pc's, that number is predicted to fall to less than 20% in the next 3 years with the growing popularity of tablets and smart phones (not to forget your Tv/HiFi and even fridge ..!). Unfortunately for the big monopoly players such as Microsoft/Apple they are being pushed out by the increasing popularity of the free open source players, Op systems such as Android and Linux are growing in popularity so much so as no casual user will have to pay for software to complete any task in the coming years.

The only markets that are going to be left are specialist software and enterprise software.

Games developers are not concentrating on the online environments and update-able contents, they are at no risk from piracy as they provide a service that people will gladly pay for..

As for the movies, I watch a lot of movies but I only go the the cinema about 15 times a year, this year I ventured out to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Warrior , Moneyball etc. etc. You don't really ever hear the makers of these films complaining about piracy as the films they produce generally do quite well, and according to articles I'v read during the year the film industry is doing quite well for the big guys, the great directors, the writers the actors. You know they that are actually good at what they do.. .. the guys that view it not as an industry to generate cash but rather the artists and the story tellers ..

smash

Freddie59 wrote: »

Can you actually download movies legally, like music on iTunes?

Yea you can.

smash

k.p.h wrote: »

Who is going to be downloading music in the coming years when it is their on demand to their live wifi enabled Tv/HiFi.

People who have portable devices!

k.p.h

smash wrote: »

People who have portable devices!

Portable devices will be up to speed in a matter of years (e.g 4G) , streaming will be possible everywhere you have phone signal. Just to add to that IP6 addressing is had this consideration in mind, Any money with you in less than 10 years your pants will have internet connectivity

krudler

with youtube, grooveshark, soundcloud, itunes etc you dont need to buy cds anymore, why would you? I started getting rid of my dvds and getting digital versions or ripping them to hard drives.

ironically seeing movies via piratey ways has made me buy films I wouldnt have seen as they didnt get cinema releases here.got a rip, watched it, enjoyed it, bought the blu-ray. downloading is a big grey area anyway its not as simple as downloading music/movie= makes you bad. I've downloaded HD versions of movies I already own, is that still considered stealing? its the exact same film but its not my fault there's a shiny HD version that has a better picture and audio quality than the shoddy dvd version already out there with a piss poor transfer.

joseph brand

Anyone remember when you found a 'rare' version of an album. It probably had some Japanese text on it. Anyway, this album could be twice the normal price of 16 euro/ punt and it may have a couple extra songs on it. But, there's no such thing as rare, now that people can rip a cd onto their pc and duplicate it, in case there's a fire which consumes the original, or the dog chews it.

Music companies have been screwing us and artists over for a long time. I don't know where they want to get sympathy from?

If there are any decent artists here, get out and play live and earn your money. Perhaps there are more opportunities to see bands/ artists we love due to online sharing? Instead of them sitting on their laurels in sunny mansions eating cocaine hash bombs.

The Internet Explorer

Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr !

My name is URL

Seachmall wrote: »

How dare they go about it by passing laws that force a separate industry to follow their directions and prevent users from accessing entirely legal websites all while ignoring EU rulings.

It doesn't matter what mechanism they're using to clamp down on piracy. The same people will still be opposed to the measures being taken, and perform mental gymnastics in order to morally justify the fact that they want to get the latest movies etc without paying anything for them.

I've no problem with people downloading stuff nefariously, I do plenty of that myself.. It just irks me to see people try to argue that they should be left to it without any interference from ISPs and rights holders.

The Internet Explorer

It's not plundering me matey! It's sharing we be doing !! Aaaaaaaaarrrrrgghh ! !

Seachmall

My name is URL wrote: »

It just irks me to see people try to argue that they should be left to it without any interference from ISPs and rights holders.

The Rights Holders can do their best to enforce their rights but they can fuck off if they think this is an acceptable way to go about it.

Chuck Stone

The Internet Explorer wrote: »

It's not plundering me matey! It's sharing we be doing !! Aaaaaaaaarrrrrgghh ! !

The end of the concept of 'intellectual property' is just over the horizon.

It's already a defunct concept for many.

deathrider

That means I've only got about two weeks meft to download the entire internet?... Challenge accepted!

--amadeus--

I bought the Star Wars trilogy on video. Then I bought it again on DVD. Now it's out on Blu-Ray and I'm supposed to pay a third time for it? Same thing happened once upon a time with music. People had the vinyl copy, then bought the cassette and then the CD. CDs that cost a few cents to produce and retailed for €16+ (with the artist getting a euro if they were lucky).

I have no issue with paying for quality content but I do have an issue with paying time and again for the same thing. And - as said above - if something is good enough people will pay for it and attempting to use the law to stop downloads is futile. The "entertainment" industry is eating itself; it's producing less and less quality original work and it cannot sustain or justify it's rip off margins any longer. Instead of giving us 5 identikit copies of "The Fast and the Furious" or yet another Mission Impossible how about making original films people want to see? Avatar might have been crap but it was crap that pulled people into the cinema - get your product right and people will pay. Same for music; less Jedward and whoever else is on X Factor and more original music and people will happily hand over the cash.

smash

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Instead of giving us 5 identikit copies of "The Fast and the Furious" or yet another Mission Impossible how about making original films people want to see?

People do want to see them, that's why they make them.

ScumLord

joseph brand wrote: »

But, there's no such thing as rare, now that people can rip a cd onto their pc and duplicate it, in case there's a fire which consumes the original, or the dog chews it.

This is a good thing though as it only really applies to information. Knowledge has always equalled power and now that power has been handed out to everyone and the people who want to maintain their power don't like it.

I also think the media companies have brought this on themselves with their insidious advertising. They go out of their way to make people want their goods, it's no surprise people will break laws to be part of the popular culture it's very hard for a social animal like the human to just ignore being part of the group if they don't have the funds to pay for their inclusion.

--amadeus--

smash wrote: »

People do want to see them, that's why they make them.

Fast Five was a bad example, it made more than the earlier ones

Most film "franchises" get progressively worse both in terms of quality and at the Box Office. For example Mission Impossible , the 3rd film took around half the money of teh first (adjusted for inflation). "Live free or die hard" was $70million down after adjustment and Rocky Balboa was a whopping $400million off the originals take. And look at the all time list I count 3 sequels in the all time top 30, and they are Star Wars.

Making sequels is sticking to a formula. Creating a cutsey boy band on X factor is a formula. It will make money but people generally prefer to see new things. Even though it was released at the height of the pirate age Avatar is still #14 in the all time box office list. Make it compelling enough and people will pay for it.

smash

--amadeus-- wrote: »

It will make money but

Forget the buts, the money is what matters!

usernamegoes

Freddie59 wrote: »

Load of bollix. I'm currently transferring my (legally purchased) DVDs to a media player for convenience. Can you actually download movies legally, like music on iTunes? I note that some DVDs for sale in the shops are a 'triple play', DVD, BluRay, and 'Digital Copy'.

The way of the future?

If the DVD, CD or whatever, has CRM which most DVDs do then it is illegal for you to tamper with that regardless of whether or not the content on the DVD is copyright or not.

I am interested to know pursuant to what power is the Minister making this order and what test will the court need to consider when granting an order to censor the internet. The likes of Youtube probably is the biggest provider of illegal copyright violations. Doubt that will be banned.

I can see a market for VPNs opening up with this and Data Retention etc. Good way to sell to people is to make them scared of the State and spying and sell them a Swedish VPN. Hmm, might be a good investment.

yoyo

http://i.imgur.com/7S9Kt.jpg

This is probably just one of many reasons people prefer to download movies than buy them. DVDs with unskippable ads at the beginning are ripping the p!ss. Also for anybody thinking well I don't mind its only a few piracy sites (likely the more common torrent sites or something it will likely be!) and it stops piracy, you arn't really understanding the bigger picture and how dangerous it is to allow companies control the ISPs or the internet. Sites may be blocked incorrectly, technology used to block sites will slow down browsing speed, sometimes significantly.
anyone with any clue would know Eircom only agreed to do the blocking thing as they were promoting their own Music shop, quite convenient actually thinking about it!!
Also with the invention of VPNs, Proxys since the early beginnings of the Internet blocking is a waste of time, and only a slight inconvenience to anyone wishing to download stuff. You can't block Rapidshare et al. either as none of those sites are illegal (even if some of the content is "questionnable" they remove it upon request.)

Nick

conor.hogan.2

What about sites that stream Movies, TV shows and Sports illegally?