Ninth Level Ireland

“The main reason – effectively the only reason – given by Minister Sean Sherlock for pushing ahead with a deeply flawed statutory instrument is that he is acting on the advice of the Attorney General.  However, he has not revealed any detail of that advice and we are being asked to take it on trust both that it is correct (a matter which is open to debate) and also that it compels this particular course of action …” (more)

[TJ McIntyre, IT Law in Ireland, 12 February]

“I cannot think of an issue that has highlighted the deep disconnect between politicians and Ireland’s younger population more acutely than the proposed statutory instrument to modify Ireland’s copyright legislation …” (more)

[Karlin Lillington, Irish Times, 10 February]

“Remember all that talk of how the supporters of SOPA/PIPA were ‘humbled’ by the protests of January 18th, and how they had learned their lessons about trying to push through a bill without actually involving the stakeholders? Remember the talk of how they hoped a new tone could be found in the debate? Yeah …” (more)

[Mike Masnick, Techdirt, 8 February]

“Last minute hopes for a controversial statutory instrument dubbed Ireland’s SOPA going back out to the public for consultation have been dashed. The instrument is due to be signed shortly …” (more)

[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 8 February]

“‘We need to address the threat to humanity posed by the tsunami of unverifiable data, opinion, libel and vulgar abuse in new media. I know all the stuff about it being a tool of freedom and democracy, and I also know it has the capacity to destroy civil society and cause unimaginable suffering …’” (more)

[TJ McIntyre, IT Law in Ireland, 6 February]

“Tomorrow, the controversial statutory instrument concerning a change to the Copyright Act 2000 to correct a loophole in the legislation – dubbed ‘Ireland’s SOPA’ – goes before Cabinet. The ultimate decision can go one of either two ways …” (more)

[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 6 February]

“The government’s hope of addressing internet piracy using a controversial statutory instrument look increasingly doomed. ‘Irish SOPA’ can’t work, for a variety of legal and practical reasons …” (more)

[Adrian Weckler, Business Post, 6 February]

“One of the strongest arguments against the proposed copyright statutory instrument is that it is so vague as to make it impossible to predict what it might require of internet intermediaries …” (more)

[TJ McIntyre, IT Law in Ireland, 5 February]

“Senior Counsel John Gordon has a clear explanation as to why Sean Sherlock’s proposed copyright regulations are unnecessary in today’s Sunday Business Post. I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing the entire piece here …” (more)

[TJ McIntyre, IT Law in Ireland, 5 February]

“Seán Sherlock’s plan to amend copyright law to allow people seek injunctions against those they believe are infringing their copyright on the internet caused uproar among many web users and certain members of the online community …” (more)

[Miriam Lord, Irish Times, 4 February]

“The furious debate surrounding the statutory instrument to amend the Copyright Act 2000 – dubbed the ‘Irish SOPA’ – until now has seen one group maintain a dignified silence. But this evening the ISPs came out strongly against the instrument ‘for very practical and simple business reasons’ …” (more)

[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 3 February]

“The labelling of the copyright amendment as Ireland’s SOPA has been contested by some as inaccurate. There are differences, it is true. Most obviously SOPA is designed to target ‘foreign’ websites, whereas the Irish SI (Statutory Instrument) makes no distinction between foreign and domestic web sites …” (more)

[Alan Toner, Broadsheet.ie, 1 February]

“Ministers copyright proposals threaten digital businesses and put civil liberties at risk. Last week Minister of State for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock published a draft statutory instrument on the enforcement of copyright …” (more)

[TJ McIntyre, Irish Times, 1 February]

“Ahead of this evening’s Dail debate on the statutory instrument that amends the Copyright Act 2000, two of the leaders behind the Stop SOPA Ireland petition – Michele Neylon and TJ McIntyre – answer Siliconrepublic.com’s questions on impending changes to Ireland’s copyright laws …” (more)

[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 31 January]

“Protest against ACTA and ‘SOPA Ireland’. Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square East, Dublin 1. February 4th, 13:00 until 18:30 …” (more)

[Why We Protest, 30 January]

“I dedicated my Sunday newsround to making a shout-out to Sean Sherlock, the Dail deputy empowered to hammer home the Irish version of SOPA that will damage the innovation culture of Ireland …” (more)

[Bernie Goldbach, Inside View from Ireland, 29 January]

“There’s been a lot of very worthwhile comment and outrage over the so-called SOPA Ireland debacle in recent days. I have a slightly different viewpoint on this …” (more)

[Mark Dennehy, Stochastic Geometry, 27 January]

“The junior minister behind proposed new laws giving copyright holders the power to seek court injunctions over copyright breaches has agreed not to sign the new laws before holding a full Dáil debate on them …” (more)

[TheJournal.ie, 27 January]

“… The timing of the statutory instrument, which is due to be signed this week, couldn’t have been worse for the Irish Government considering it was only last week that massive public protest derailed the progress of the SOPA and PIPA bills in the US. Some 30,000 people have signed a petition against the signing of the statutory instrument …” (more)

[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 26 January]

“.. The last thing innovators need is a culture where the outputs of their creative endeavours have to be locked away or kept secret for the fear of theft.  Ireland is very proud of the fact that we have a modern suite of intellectual property laws that by their very nature balance a range of competing interests and rights in a manner that is seen, right across the globe, as reasonable and proportionate …” (more)

[Cork Politics, 25 January]