Music companies seek to block access to website

A legal action has been launched aimed at blocking access by Irish internet users to the free file-sharing website Pirate Bay and related sites.

About 200,000 Irish users access the Pirate Bay monthly, the Commercial Court heard. Four music companies have brought the case against five internet service providers (ISPs) aimed at requiring them block or disable access by their subscribers to the sites.

The action is by EMI, Sony, Warner Music, and Universal against UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, and Hutchison 3G Ltd, and all the defendants consented yesterday to the case being fast-tracked in the Commercial Court.