The University Times

Fiontan O’Ceallachain

Staff Writer

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Firstly, I apologise for the title but I hoped it would grab your attention!

Sean Sherlock, Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, plans to pass a statutory instrument commonly known as SOPA-Ireland. This new legislation could result in the eventual shutdown of most community and communications websites, e.g. facebook, twitter, youtube, flickr and wikipedia.

Like SOPA it will do this by holding websites responsible for the copyright infringement of their users and granting copyright holders the power to block these offending sites from Irish users. This power will be exercised through the courts.

Whether you condone or condemn piracy it is irrelevant. We cannot compromise or freedom of speech and right to privacy for any industry. The following are Sean Sherlock’s main arguments in defense of the statutory instrument.

1. SOPA-Ireland is not SOPA.

• SOPA-Ireland is not SOPA, but it is very much like SOPA.
• One of the biggest difference between the two is that SOPA- Ireland will block online services within Ireland, where SOPA had a more severe international effect.
• Another is that SOPA would have forced search engines, like google or wikipedia, to censor your search results.
• But like SOPA, SOPA-Ireland could have all communication and community website that have the potential to infringe on copyright blocked from us.
  This includes most of the sites we use; facebook, twitter, youtube, wikipedia and all sites like them.
• Like SOPA, people are protesting not the details but the obvious threat to our freedom of speech and right to privacy.
• Like SOPA, there are easy technological methods for piracy to continue under this regulation.
• Unlike SOPA, SOPA-Ireland is undemocratically being pushed through the backdoor with no consideration for the people’s  concerns.
• Like SOPA, SOPA-Ireland could throw us into an information dark age.
• Like SOPA, SOPA-Ireland protects the right of the private copyright industry over the rights of the citizens.

2. SOPA-Ireland is required by EU policy.

• Should we sacrifice our freedom of speech in the name of EU policy?
• As it is, many of us feel that the EU are out of touch with reality of everyday society.
• The EU is no Saint when it comes to dangerous Internet regulating legislation:
  • On the 31st of March 2012, the European Parliament are set to vote on an Treaty named ACTA.
  • Like SOPA and SOPA-Ireland, ACTA is officially designed to combat on-line piracy but in reality it has serious repercussions on our freedom of speech and right to privacy.
  • ACTA essentially forces ISPs to monitor everything we do on-line, reporting every infringement of copyright.
  • If you are found infringing, under ACTA you can be prosecuted without trial with an undefined sentence (i.e. whatever the judge decides is appropriate).
  • The European Commission of the EU, who aren’t democratically elected, helped draft this bill.
• Irish Minister Sean Sherlock, you serve the people of Ireland , the people who voted you into office to represent them, not the EU!

3. The courts will be sensible and fair in their decisions.

• The vagueness of SOPA-Ireland gives the courts a huge amount of power in the sentences they can order. This means that if the courts do not understand the reality of the Internet, if they are influenced by bias forces, or if they make a simple human mistake, the entire on-line landscape could be totally reformed and our freedom of speech crushed.
• As part of a similar law named ACTA, which will be voted on by the European Parliament on the 31st of March, governments will be required to encourage the establishment and maintenance of organisations representing copyright holders which can give their opinions to the courts. How can we expect the courts to make fair judgement if they could be formally influenced by the biased copyright industry?
• The issue of copyright infringement versus freedom of speech obviously isn’t sufficiently understood by our current system, how can we trust them to make the right decisions in this regard?
• Irish Minister Sean Sherlock, you serve the people of Ireland first, the people you voted you into the Dail to represent them, you do not serve the private copyright industry first!

4. Sean Sherlock consistently stresses that the concerned parties should discuss their concerns with him and each other in order to address their worries.

• Like many of the up and coming dangerous Internet regulating legislation, there is a serious lack of public awareness regarding
  SOPA-Ireland. This was especially true during the time the Minister apparently had his doors open to people with concerns.
• Now that we are aware of the statutory instrument we are demanding a proper discussion on the issue.
  • Although he refused to at first, due to public pressure Sean Sherlock allowed a Dail debate on the issue.
  • During the Dail debate, Sean Sherlock explicitly said that he would certainly not be making amendments to the draft statutory instrument.
  • The reason we the people put pressure on Sean Sherlock to allow a Dail debate was so that amendments could be suggested, considered and potentially made. Sean Sherlock’s preemptive refusal to make any amendments is an insult to the people of Ireland and to our democracy.
• This bill is being pushed through the back-door, cheating democracy and avoiding open discussion whenever possible. Does Sean Sherlock really believe in discussing these issues?