Yesterday on The Right Hook, Eamon Ryan, Leader of The Green Party, and Former Minister for Communications joined George to explain his opposition to the proposed ‘Irish SOPA’ legislation.
He argued that if this law is passed, sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other popular sites may be blocked in Ireland, and that free access to the internet is under threat as a result of this law…
So what’s this new law all about?
The good people at www.stopsopaireland.com explain the new law, and their opposition on their site. This is what they say:
What is “Ireland’s SOPA”?
SOPA is the name of a piece of US legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act, recently proposed in the US. It caused an Internet-wide outcry due to its far-reaching implications; way beyond simply closing access to outlaw file sharing websites, it would have enabled law enforcement to block access to entire internet domains due to infringing material posted on a single blog or webpage.
A similar proposal is about to become law in Ireland. And while 7 million Americans contacted their representatives to say No to SOPA in the US, Irish citizens will not get that chance because the new law in Ireland is not being voted on in the Oireachtas.
Instead, the law is being enacted by ministerial order. This new law will give music and movie companies the legal leverage to force Irish ISPs like UPC, Eircom and mobile networks to block access to sites suspected of having copyrighted material on them. It also means judges can order ISPs to block access to sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter where an individual user from anywhere in the world has shared infringing material.
Why It Matters
If this is passed, sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other popular sites may be blocked in Ireland. These sites depend on user-created content. With one injunction based on one bad link from one person, all of Ireland could lose access to a news site, social network, video sharing or any other kind of site.
Site owners faced with one of Minister Sherlock’s injunctions will have no legal recourse without a €30,000+ legal warchest. The new law mandates no warning process, no mediation and no appeals process outside the High Court. Smaller sites including individual blogs, podcasts and independent news sources who don’t have the money to mount the costly legal campaign needed to defend themselves will automatically lose out to corporate interests with deep pockets.
This statute is about to become law with no vote in the Oireachtas. Instead, Minister Sherlock has stated that he intends to issue a ministerial order. This law affects all 4.3 million people in Ireland; something so fundamental should properly be debated and legislated by our elected representatives.
This legislation is bad for the Irish economy. It jeopardises the fundamental operation of our largest tech employers including Facebook and Google, is hostile to investment and relocation, and stifles our technology startups.
What you can do.
StopSOPAIreland has assembled a petition of over 80,000 people voicing their concern, and has put forward an alternative wording for the law, which would still provide a high degree of protection for intellectual property, but would also ensure that the fundamental rights of citizens are protected. This proposed wording has been debated in the Dail and been praised by all sides. However, Sean Sherlock TD, the junior minister responsible is still going to recommend to Richard Bruton that he sign the deeply flawed original proposal into law.
As a voter, there is action you can take to stop this bad law.
1. Go to http://stopsopaireland.com/ . Sign the petition and consider getting in touch with your TD on the issue.
2. Ring your local government TDs and make an appointment to see your TD, as soon as possible. Let them know what it is about.
3. Go and see your TD. There are some hints on http://stopsopaireland.com/files/2012/02/TDhelpsheet.pdf
4. Even if you don’t know your TD, or have never done anything like this before, you can do this. You are a voter or potential voter and your TD wants to know what you think. The only things you have to know about to do this effectively are courtesy, professionalism and respect.
