Cork cafe warned after customer used its wifi to illegally download music

Paul Walsh of 3 Little Piggies on Union Quay received a letter from his internet provider warning of legal action if there were further breaches

Paul Walsh of 3 Little Piggies Deli on Union Quay: 'I think other businesses need to be aware.' Picture: Jim Coughlan

The owner of a busy Cork City cafe has urged others to take note after he got a warning about illegal downloads of music on his wifi network.

Paul Walsh, who runs the popular 3 Little Piggies on Union Quay, just yards from the Cork School of Music, said anyone who offers wifi to the public should be aware of the issue.

“I am eight years with eir and this is the first time I have got such a notification,” he said.

This was about a song or an album that someone downloaded using the wifi in the café.

“At first I thought it was a joke, but now that I’ve had time to think about it, the implications are scary.

“What if this was more sinister? What if something else was downloaded and shared using our wifi? Where does that leave me? Am I liable for that? How do I police this?

“I think other businesses need to be aware.” 

Certain filters can be added to his router to prevent certain material from being downloaded but Mr Walsh said eir provided no such technical advice in its warning letter. He plans to contact the company on Friday to discuss his options.

He has also changed his firewall settings to a higher level of security, and he has changed the wifi password and said he was giving it out to customers now along with a friendly warning against illegally downloading or sharing music.

In its warning letter, eir said it works closely with the Irish Recorded Music Association (Irma), which independently monitors internet traffic and activity for illegal music downloads and file-sharing, and Irma had informed it there was illegal music downloads and file-sharing on an eir IP address linked to the broadband account in the cafe.

Eir claimed the website or protocol Torrent was used to download the album, 'If I can’t have love, I want power', by US artist Halsey.

“We understand that you may not know how this has happened as your eir broadband and eir wifi connections may be used by a number of people in your house,” the warning letter said.

It warned if there were three breach notices on an account, Irma may go legal, which could lead to the suspension of a broadband account.

Eir has been asked to comment.