Ireland Opens E-Health Open Data Portal; Huff Post, August 8, 2017

Adi Gaskell, Huff Post; Ireland Opens E-Health Open Data Portal

"I’ve written extensively about the growing importance of data in healthcare in the past year, and it’s pleasing to see that changes are slowly beginning to emerge in the sector.

The latest of these comes from Ireland, where an open data portal has been launched by eHealth Ireland.  The portal aims to bring together some 300 different open data sources into one place, making it easier to find data from across the Irish Health Sector...

The data itself is open, free and reusable, and the project is a key part of the Public Service Reform agenda.  It is wrapped up in the  Open Health Data Policy, which aims to provide a framework for the accessibility and availability of open data in the Irish health system.

The project follows a number of clearly defined Open Health Data Principles that are designed to support the health service in the provision of better patient care and in the support of new innovations in the sector, all whilst ensuring that patient data is secured and governed appropriately."

Paper Finds Little Success In ‘Three-Strikes’ IP Enforcement Programmes; Intellectual Property Watch, 9/10/13

Intellectual Property Watch; Paper Finds Little Success In ‘Three-Strikes’ IP Enforcement Programmes: "“Evaluating Graduated Response,” authored by Rebecca Giblin of the Monash University Faculty of Law, is available here. The abstract of the paper reads: “It has been more than three years since the first countries began implementing ‘graduated responses’, requiring ISPs [internet service providers] to take a range of measures to police their users’ copyright infringements. Graduated responses now exist in a range of forms in seven jurisdictions. Right-holders describe them as ‘successful’ and ‘effective’ and are agitating for their further international roll-out. But what is the evidence in support of these claims?” The paper looks at schemes in France, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States and evaluates “the extent to which they are actually achieving the copyright law’s aims,” it says."

Music Industry Braces for the Unthinkable; New York Times, 1/24/11

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; Music Industry Braces for the Unthinkable:

""We are at one of the most worrying stages yet for the industry,” he continued. “As things stand now, digital music has failed.”

Music executives disagree, saying there is hope, as long as they can come to grips with piracy, which according to the industry federation accounts for the vast majority of music distributed online.

Stronger measures to crack down on unauthorized copying are taking effect in a number of countries, executives note, and even as the authorities wield a heavier stick, the complementary carrots are appearing, too, in the form of innovative digital services."

Ireland Is Latest With Plan to Cut Into Copyright Violations; New York Times, 4/16/10

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; Ireland Is Latest With Plan to Cut Into Copyright Violations:

"A judge in Ireland on Thursday cleared the way for the implementation of a crackdown on Internet piracy, dismissing the Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s concerns that the plan could result in the invasion of privacy.

The judge upheld the legality of an agreement between Eircom, the largest Internet service provider in Ireland, and the music industry. Under the deal, Eircom has agreed to suspend digital pirates’ Internet connections if they ignore repeated warnings to stop the unauthorized copying of music.

In his ruling, the judge, Peter Charleton, issued a strong defense of the rights of copyright owners.

“The Internet is only a means of communication,” he wrote. “It is not an amorphous extraterrestrial body with an entitlement to norms that run counter to the fundamental principles of human rights. There is nothing in the criminal or civil law which legalizes that which is otherwise illegal simply because the transaction takes place over the Internet.”

The music industry has been urging Internet service providers to take stronger action against piracy, though they have generally resisted measures like those agreed to by Eircom. In France and Britain, governments have approved laws authorizing suspension of pirates’ Internet accounts, though these measures have not yet gone into effect.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry hailed the decision in Ireland.

“This sends a strong message to governments that are now considering how to help their creative industries address the threat of mass online piracy,” the group said."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/technology/17eircom.html?scp=2&sq=copyright&st=cse

Music firms want royalties from hotels and prisons, London Times, 12/28/08

Via London Times: Music firms want royalties from hotels and prisons, Recording industry to fight Ireland’s copyright exemption in court as sales decline:

"MUSIC corporations are taking the [Irish] government to court for giving hotels and prisons an exemption from royalties when they pipe songs into bedrooms and cells.

The case is a further sign of record companies’ determination to open up new revenue streams as profits from CD sales decline sharply due to internet downloads. "

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5404364.ece