“Three Strikes” ISP Shuts Down Piracy-Busting Music Service

It was a service that came along as part of an ISP’s deal with the music industry to fight online piracy, but just two years later Eircom’s MusicHub is being closed down.

At the close of 2010, Irish ISP Eircom detailed a new service it would soon begin offering to its customer base.

MusicHub would allow subscribers to stream music from the big labels including Universal, Sony, EMI, Warner and Merlin.

The service, offering unlimited streaming with no restrictions and no advertising, came on the heels of an out-of-court settlement Eircom struck with the labels on the issue of illicit file-sharing. The deal would see Eircom introduce a graduated response system for dealing with copyright-infringing subscribers.

It was hoped that MusicHub would prove attractive to former pirates and regular music fans alike, but it wasn’t to be.


“MusicHub will no longer be available from the 31st July 2013,” reads a notice on Eircom’s website.

“You can continue to stream and download music until this date. If you subscribe to a download bundle, remember to use any download credits and available top up balance prior to this date.”

“Eircom remains committed to addressing the issue of illegal file sharing through its graduated response process which has been in place since 2010,” the company said.