Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I assure her and the House that Ireland subscribes fully to the freedoms, opportunities and the access to information that the Internet provides. A broad and robust set of measures is in place to preserve these freedoms, including the profound protections given to freedom of speech in both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution. These can only be breached in very particular circumstances and legally precise and transparent ways. As such, the measures that allow the State to interfere with the free flow of information over the Internet are precisely defined and can only be used in certain circumstances.

On the specific issue of copyright, it is the case that the holders of copyright are entitled, by virtue of the protections enjoyed under copyright law, to control the use of these works such as in the case of the right to make copies of the work, to broadcast the work or to disseminate the work on-line. Copyright law provides for remedies to be taken where copyright infringement is alleged, that is, where acts such as those just outlined take place without the consent of the copyright holder or without any remuneration being given to the holder of the copyright in the works. Such remedies are mandated by the EU copyright directive dating from 2001. The European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 were signed into law by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, on 29 February 2012. These regulations are not about censorship but rather responding to the requirements of the EU copyright directive which requires member states to provide that injunctive relief may be sought against intermediaries whose services are being used by a third party to infringe a copyright. The regulations provide legal clarity and the ability to file for injunctive relief against an intermediary such as an Internet service provider, ISP, in a case where copyright infringement is alleged. The regulations facilitated the granting of a blocking injunction in the recent High Court case concerning The Pirate Bay website as mentioned by the Senator.

It is important to note that the granting of injunctions is not an automatic procedure but must involve a judicial process. The High Court has drawn significant guidance in this area from case law before the European Court of Justice. This ensures any remedy provided for must be balanced against a range of competing principles in a manner that is reasonable and proportionate to all concerned, including that the fundamental rights of an ISP's customer must be respected, namely, his or her right to protection of personal data and freedom to receive or impart information.