IRMA has targeted 17 internet users that it considers are guilty of breaching copyright law, writes Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter
In the next fortnight 17 people with a computer and an internet connection will find a nasty surprise waiting for them on their doormat at home.
The surprise will be a letter from the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) accusing the recipient of illegally sharing music using the internet.
It will seek damages of up to €6,000 from each person for breaching copyright law and threaten legal action against anyone who refuses to pay.
The letters, the first of their kind in the Republic, are part of the music industry's assault on illegal uploaders of music tracks.
File-sharing networks such as KaZaA or Gnutella enable people to link their computers together via the web and share music files stored on the machines. The ease of downloading music using a broadband connection - it takes minutes to download a track - and the fact that it is free, has led to an explosion of illegal file-sharing by computer users.
More than 11,000 letters have been sent to internet users in the US, Britain and a host of other countries already. The music industry claims most offenders pay the damages and agree never to share music again.
In some international cases those targeted have turned out to be parents of children involved in file-sharing.
In these cases, media attention has helped the industry to "name and shame" offenders and further publicise their campaign.
In Ireland, at least 236,000 people have downloaded music illegally using the web and file-sharing networks cost the industry tens of millions of euro in lost sales, according to music industry surveys.
IRMA's court case to uncover the names, addresses and phone numbers of illegal file-sharers paves the way for the music industry to proceed with prosecutions.
A team of consultants employed by IRMA has already gathered evidence on those who have uploaded or shared music.
Until now it has set a minimum limit of 500 tracks available on a person's computer before gathering evidence, but in future it may lower this limit and target people who download music for themselves.
Any of the 17 recipients of the IRMA letters who opt to fight a legal case through the courts are taking a risk. Fines for breaching copyright laws in the Republic are as much as €1,900 per track downloaded illegally.
Alternatively, they could also face up to six months in jail if found guilty under a criminal conviction. They may have to pay the legal costs if they lose a case.
The beginning of legal action against illegal uploaders in the Republic is a significant blow to the community of people using file sharing networks.
It follows on from another significant defeat in the US Supreme Court last week for file-sharing networks. In a landmark decision, the court ruled that file-sharing networks could be held liable for what users do with their software.
The court's decision in the "Grokster" case could lead to a new legal assault against the big file-sharing networks by the music industry, which previously shut down the Napster service.