The story so far: The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) have successfully persuaded Eircom, Ireland's largest broadband provider (42% of the market), to censor their service and threaten their own customers with disconnection if they are merely accused of illegal file sharing. In effect the recording industry have introduced a de facto three- ( Read more... )

This is something I'm leaving in 2009: the (very roughly) chronologically ordered contents of a bookmark folder I generously named "Research". Starting in February 2006 these links chart the rapid decline of so-called Intellectual Property from the meniscus of eccentric financial precedent to the depths of authoritarian insanity. You may also find ( Read more... )

There is very little short of murder that we would not blithely accept the recording industry as being capable of, but this sort of stupidity really just beggars belief. ASCAP and the BMI want to collect royalties on the 30 second track previews in the iTunes store. It seems as though they are determined to cripple what little business they have ( Read more... )

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Things are about to start happening in the War on Irish Internet Users.

According to The Irish Times the recording industry's favourite broadband provider, Eircom, will start blocking thepiratebay.org on September 1st. Well, actually it says "piratebay.org" which is just an alias domain, but who knows ( Read more... )

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Just to catch you up. This year my ISP, Eircom.net, settled a dispute with the Irish Recorded Music Ass. (IRMA) who had taken them to court over illegal file sharing. The claim was that Eircom were complicit in the illegal activities of their users. the evidence against them included internal emails showing Eircom execs joking about copyright ( Read more... )

This is a translation of Don Reisinger's interview with the RIAA's Cara Duckworth for CNet. The translation is into English from Bullshit.

Don: Please tell me who you are and what you do.

RIAA: Cara Duckworth, spokeswoman for the RIAA.

Translation: Cara Duckworth, Recording Industry Ass. of America mouthpiece.

Don: What can you tell me about the ( Read more... )