March 11, 2008

By By Lars Brandle, London

Ireland's labels body is taking legal action against the country's biggest broadband ISP, Eircom.

According to a story leaked to the Irish Times, the Irish Recorded Music Association is taking its grievances to the High Court in Dublin over Eircom's refusal to use filtering technology or other measures to prevent illegal file-sharing. The music majors' local subsidiaries are understood to be taking part in the action.

A judge has yet to be appointed to hear the case, an IFPI spokesman tells Billboard.biz. And no date has been fixed, although it is expected to be in May.

The IRMA won a landmark ruling in Dublin's High Court last June when it forced Eircom and five other ISPs to provide the trade body with the names and addresses of 23 individuals involved in the alleged illegal distribution of copyrighted music files.

The IFPI and IRMA did not want to comment in advance of the case being heard in court.

The Irish development is the latest signal of the record industry's determination to hold ISPs accountable for rampant file-sharing. After years of determined lobbying from the industry, the respective governments of France and Britain recently disclosed proposals to intervene by way of legislation to curb illegal file trading.

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