Ireland starts process that could see file-sharers cut off from Internet

Ireland has started a process that could see illegal peer-to-peer file-sharers cut off from using the Internet. Eircom, the Irish Internet service provider with 40% of the Irish market, has started writing to suspected file-sharers based on Internet protocol addresses given to it by IRMA, the Irish record company body. After the first letter, if the file-sharing continues, a pop-up message will appear, and eventually the user could have their Internet use suspended, first for a week and then for a year. The action follows the settlement of a legal dispute between IRMA and Eircom over whether Eircom was doing enough to stop its users’ illegal use of music. Ireland is the first country to implement such a scheme, although similar has been proposed in France, the UK and elsewhere.