A bill commonly referred to as Ireland's version of the ill-fated Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was approved by that government's Parliament this week, paving the way for protective copyright holders to seek court injunctions against websites, ISPs and web-based companies that display or provide access to copyrighted content.
Formally called The European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 (.pdf), the statutory instrument seeks to amend Ireland's Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000. One clause in particular drew criticism:
The owner of the copyright in a work may, in respect of that work, apply to the High Court for an injunction against an intermediary to whom paragraph 3 of Article 8 of Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 20012 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society applies.
Whether copyright holders could actually shut down YouTube or Facebook, however, is the big question. Another clause calls for judges to only order injunctions when infringement can be determined beyond a shadow of a doubt:
An injunction under this subsection shall not be granted unless the court is satisfied that the injunction will distinguish adequately between infringing material and lawful content so that it will not lead to the blocking of lawful communications.
Torrent sites such as Sweden's The Pirate Bay are more than likely to be the actual targets. The infamous piracy hub was previously blocked by Irish ISP Eircom in 2009.
Ireland Research and Innovation Junior Minister Seán Sherlock defended the law and ensured web denizens that it wouldn't hinder free speech or future innovation.
"On many previous occasions I have outlined the reasons why it is necessary for us to proceed to sign this Statutory Instrument in order to ensure compliance with our obligations under EU law," said Sherlock. "The challenge now is to examine what measures we can take to develop Ireland's laws in this area in such a way as to provide the greatest possible encouragement for innovation in the creative and digital industries to take place here."
Hacker collective Anonymous struck out against the proposal in January, launching a denial of service attacks against Ireland's Department of Justice site and producing 45,000 signatures on a petition asking Sherlock to abandon his work. (via TechDirt)
