THREE STRIKES AND UPC

The High Court is due to decide today (Monday) if UPC can be forced to stop its customers illegally downloading music from the Internet. According to The Sunday Business Post, o2 and 3 Ireland are among the other providers awaiting the landmark ruling before deciding to contest similar High Court actions lodged against them by the music industry.

The case against UPC, one of Ireland’s biggest Internet providers (ISPs), was taken by four of the world’s main record labels – Warner Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music and EMI Records. The industry wants ISPs to deny access to customers found to have downloaded illegal material on three or more occasions – the so-called “three-strike” rule.

Eircom was first to agree to the system when it struck an out-of-court settlement with the music industry last year.

In 2005, Irish consumers spent $134m buying music in record stores. By 2009, this figure was just $60.9m.