Eircom savaged by satire site

Campaigners in Ireland have launched a scathing attack on the country's lack of affordable and fast Internet access.

A new Web site, EircomTribunal.com, rips into what it describes as the "saboteurs of the Internet development in Ireland" pulling no punches as it tears into incumbent telco, Eircom, regulator ODTR and the Government.

Wickedly funny and satirical, EircomTribunal.com also delivers a serious message. It claims that Net access in Ireland is so expensive it makes email "more expensive than letter mail".

And it points to independent research that relegates Ireland to little more than a Third World e-Nation.

"In an act of national sabotage the Irish citizen has been priced out of using the Internet.

"Its [EircomTribunal.com's] aim is to prepare the ground for a 'Counterstrike' against the saboteurs of the Internet development in Ireland.

"EircomTribunal.com will approach the incompetence and gullibility on the side of the State, and the lack of vision and the greediness of the de facto monopoly, EIRCOM, with serious argument and with satire," it said.

A spokeswoman for Eircom declined to comment on the site or its content. No one from ODTR was available at the time of writing to comment on the site. ®