Major Labels' Irish File Sharing Suit Defeated

The Guardian reports that Warner, Universal, Sony BMG and EMI were defeated in an effort to get Irish's third-largest internet provider UPC to cut off users who were illegally file sharing. The court noted that although a "substantial portion" of the company's 150,000 customers were trading music, and that it was hurting the industry, no Irish laws existed to enforce an internet ban. Interestingly, Ireland's largest provider, Eircom, had adopted a "three strikes" policy against file sharing in 2009, but UPC and another company, Vodafone, had declined to do the same.

In the States, lawsuits have plummeted against individuals who file share, although the new strategy seems to be targeting ISPs, rather than users. Either way, it doesn't really seem to be working, and it would really benefit labels to rethink their strategies.