People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has called on Sky TV to drop its legal action against Irish dodgy box users as over 300 names and addresses are released following High Court ruling
Pay TV providers are coming after local networks and individual users(Image: Getty)
Sky TV’s intensified crackdown – supported by fellow pay TV operators – against so-called dodgy boxes has resulted in over 300 additional names and addresses being released, while establishing a legal precedent that will permit considerably more to follow.
However, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has now urged Sky to abandon their legal proceedings against individual users and local networks, which has encompassed raids and summonses across the country, and to cease pursuing ‘ordinary Irish people’. The most recent legal action concerns a network of users in Co Wexford.
The Dublin TD argued that greater funding should instead be directed towards public, free-to-air broadcasting, following the recent High Court ruling that granted Sky permission to obtain the details of hundreds of Irish dodgy box users.
Deputy Murphy maintained that the widespread popularity of illegal streaming devices was a direct consequence of Irish people being “ripped off by multiple subscriptions, or the TV licence” as living costs continue to soar.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy (Damien Eagers/PA)(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
The People Before Profit TD contended that Ireland has witnessed the “defunding and privatisation of public broadcasting” to such a degree that broadcast content is now being controlled by global corporations charging ‘prohibitive costs’ to households, reports Cork Beo.
“This privatisation has allowed corporations to capture a public good, charge for it and use legal threats against anyone who tries to avoid their profit driven agenda,” the TD stated. “When people are being ripped off by multiple subscriptions, or the TV licence, they take what steps they can to avoid unfair charges by using a dodgy-box or not paying the licence fee,” Mr Murphy added.
He argued that the “wealthiest corporations on the planet were chasing ordinary Irish people through the courts” and urged Sky to abandon what he termed ‘its greedy legal action’.
“Privatisation has allowed corporations to capture a public good, to charge for it, and use legal threats against anyone who tries to avoid their profit-driven agenda. It is a disgrace that the courts have allowed Sky, one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet, to pursue ordinary people through the courts,” he said.
Sky has so far declined to respond to the ongoing campaign against dodgy boxes in Ireland.
People Before Profit have demanded a substantial boost in public broadcasting funding, rising to €1bn annually, which they claim could be financed by levying taxes on social media and paid content corporations, a significant number of which have established their EU headquarters in Ireland.
Accessing unauthorised services through modified equipment is unlawful and commonly known as a ‘dodgy box’.
The illegal streaming constitutes a copyright offence under Section 140 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000. Sky and other prominent broadcasters have sought permission to utilise personal data to monitor the use of illegal streaming devices in households throughout Ireland.
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