There are a fair few reports around on the implementation of the IPR enforcement directive of which this EurActiv one is relatively typical. It is a sad irony that the Irish government should be instrumental in steering a pathway for this directive through Parliament, the Commission and the Council. Prior to their implementation last year of the copyright and related rights directive of 2001, the Irish government was one of the few which recognised an explicit right to bypass digital fences for fair dealing purposes. Section 374 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 allowed the circumvention of "rights protection measures" when the purpose was to access and use the protected work in ways otherwise permitted by copyright law.