As part of the settlement, the record companies will supply Eircom with the IP addresses of all persons who they detect illegally uploading or downloading copyright works.

Eircom will then contact the subscribers directly and either warn them or terminate their account.

This move brings us into a strange situation where it’s no longer just governments shutting down the internet but now we have the multinational companies. This is just another step in a long line of things that have been happening over the last year and especially over the last few months. Even YouTube have resorted to muting videos that contain copyright music.

Each thing on its own might be seen as an acceptable step but looking at the bigger picture these people are slowly closing down the net. When will these companies just give up and embrace the technology of the 21st century? They might find themselves better off if they did.

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