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Ireland's current Data Protection Act was passed in 1988, when the Internet and international data transfers were much more limited than today. At the end of 2001, the Minister for Justice signed the European Communities (Data Protection) Regulations, 2001. The regulations implement certain provisions of the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) and are due to come into effect on 1 April 2002. Under the new regulations, transfers of data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) cannot take place unless one of a number of clear conditions designed to protect people's privacy rights...

In November 1999 the Internet Service Providers of Ireland set up a hotline service, www.hotline.ie, to combat child pornography on the Internet. This is one of a number of self-regulatory measures that have been taken by the Internet service provider industry. The hotline service works closely with various domestic bodies including An Garda Síochána (the Irish police force), and with the INHOPE Association, an international association of hotlines in twelve countries (http://www.inhope.org/). The www.hotline.ie has just published its First Report, covering the period November 1999 - June 2001....

In January 2002, The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) published its first Code of Practice and Ethics. This is part of a largely self-regulatory approach aimed at eliminating and preventing harmful content on the Internet. The Code was drawn up in association with the Internet Advisory Board established by the Irish Government. The Code is aimed at encouraging members of the industry to take responsibility for issues relating to enforcement, obligations and control. It sets out minimum practice guidelines for its members. For example, each member must: have an Acceptable...

The Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR) recently published the results of a consultation exercise which it initiated in July 2001 on the future development of the Internet in Ireland. Since its creation in 1997, the ODTR's primary task has been to act as the Irish National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for the telecommunications sector. As such, the main focus of the consultation exercise was its own responsibility for the regulation of the communications networks underpinning the Internet. The two most substantive sections of the document deal with the current state of...

On 6 March, the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR) issued a Consultation Paper in relation to the new regulatory framework for communication networks and services, recently adopted by the European Union (EU) (see IRIS 2002-1: 5 and IRIS 2002-3: 4). There has been little public comment in Ireland on the package which includes the Framework, Access, Universal Service and Authorisation Directives already adopted by the EU, and the Decision on Spectrum Management and Directive on Data Protection to be adopted separately. The ODTR believes that Ireland is well-placed at...