A chill will have run down the collective spine of the estimated 400,000 Irish users of “dodgy boxes” this week after the High Court ordered Revolut to reveal the names of 300 customers of one provider of illegal streaming services.
What Sky, who brought the case, will do with the names is unclear. Ostensibly the broadcaster has its sights on the resellers of the illegal service rather than individual end customers. The names provided are a mixture of the two.
The reality is that, tempted though it might be, Sky has limited options should it choose to make an example of individual customers. The use of a dodgy boxes is a breach of Irish copyright law but unlike most other European jurisdictions there is no simple system of fines or sanctions for the users of the boxes.
Sky would be faced with bringing actions against individual end users, not an appealing option from either a financial or brand image perspective. That said, the company’s frustration with the lack of enforcement of the law is clear. Users may well , for example, get warning letters.
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The high usage of dodgy boxes in Ireland – significantly higher per head than in the UK – is clearly linked to the lack of any effective enforcement regime. The UK has a system of fines and other sanctions for users and the police enforce the law with home visits, warnings and device seizures. There is no comparable system of fines here, nor any apparent intention to introduce one. The focus remains on stopping the problem at source by concentrating on the providers of the service. Arguably, this is where serious offences are committed and the financial rewards are significant.
Ireland’s reluctance to introduce fines and other measures aimed at the end users would appear to go beyond the pragmatic and reflect a lack of political desire to introduce what would doubtless be an unpopular measure. As a consequence, it is hard to see any significant reduction in the prevalence of this illegal activity and the users of these devices will continue to take advantage of the service providers – and of those who pay up.
