The agreement between EMI Records (Ireland) Ltd, Sony Music Entertainment Ireland Ltd, Universal Music Ireland Ltd and Warner Music Ireland Ltd and the telecomms company calls for a week-long disconnection for subscribers who receive three warnings, and complete disconnection after four warnings. But this agreement was halted by the Irish Data Protection Commission last December after Eircom mistakingly sent around 300 warning letters to innocent subscribers.
The Data Protection Commission claimed that the agreement breached data protection and privacy laws – but this ruling was challenged in court by the music companies. Now Mr Justice Charleton at the Commercial Court has quashed the Commissioner’s ruling.
The judge decided that although the Commissioner’s December ruling was based on a privacy argument, the Commission had failed to demonstrate the privacy issues; and, according to the Irish Times, “the motivation behind the commissioner’s condemnation of any music company protecting its own interest against illegal downloading was not clear.”
For their part, the music companies claimed “the notice would effectively unwind their agreement with Eircom and argued it was an unlawful and irrational attempt to reopen data protection issues already determined by the courts in their favour.”
This ruling allows the music industry to rekindle their ‘three-strikes’ campaign against copyright infringers – something they have already said they will do.