The U.K. High Court Monday ordered five U.K. ISPs to block...
The U.K. High Court Monday ordered five U.K. ISPs to block access to file-sharing website The Pirate Bay (TPB). Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media, must start blocking during the next few weeks, the British Phonographic Industry said.…
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The orders by Mr. Justice Arnold followed his ruling in February that TPB operators and users are infringing the copyright of music companies, it said. BPI said it wrote to TPB in July to ask it to stop infringing, but got no reply. In November, the music industry organization wrote to Britain’s six largest ISPs asking them to block the site voluntarily, BPI said. When ISPs “made clear they were unwilling” to do so, BPI turned to the court. The sixth ISP, British Telecom, asked for a few more weeks to consider its position, a request to which the BPI agreed, it said. Sites like TPB destroy U.K. jobs and undermine investment in new British artists, said BPI CE) Geoff Taylor, urging anyone using the website to switch to the country’s many legal and ethical music services. The ruling also won cheers from PRS for Music, the Publishers Association, the Motion Picture Association and the Musicians’ Union. Internet Services Providers’ Association Secretary General Nicholas Lansman said it’s right that a judge, rather than ISPs, made the call to block TPB, and that the judgment shows that existing law contains the necessary powers for rights holders to protect their copyright online, but “the blocking of websites should not be viewed as a silver bullet.” ISPA hopes the litigation will be followed by the “continued development of innovative fully-licensed online services,” which is the best way to tackle digital infringement, he said.