Sir, – Tom Byrne (February 1st) does an injustice to many of us who oppose Seán Sherlock’s new Bill. I, and many others, fully support the existence of copyright, and its protection, and yet oppose the introduction of this Bill in its current form.
The Bill is unacceptably vague, and does not lay down adequate safeguards and standards to govern the seeking and granting of these injunctions.
There are websites that cater mostly or exclusively to pirated content, but there are also many websites that mostly consist of unpirated material, made freely available by their members, who may find themselves unintentionally and unwillingly providing carriage to a small amount of illegal material.
A well-drafted, debated and written Bill would allow for the former to be shut down and would protect the latter from companies using a “scorched earth” approach to enforcing their copyright. – Yours, etc,