Pirate Bay Blocked by UK Internet Service Providers
The High Court has ordered a British ban on the Pirate Bay. That means the internet service providers you give money to each month have been told to block access to the Swedish file-sharing site.
So far Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media have been ordered to prevent access to The Pirate Bay after February’s High Court’s ruling put that the site is more than a neutral conduit for shared files.
Mr Justice Arnold ordered the ban, which will start in a few weeks, after concluding that the site actively encourages and profits from the sharing of copyrighted material including movies, music and books.
Representatives of the music, publishing and movie industry were quick to applaud the ruling in the strongest terms.
The Musicians’ Union said, “The individuals responsible for operating The Pirate Bay have total disregard for the rights of musicians.” The Publishers Association went even further, saying, “The Pirate Bay’s operators are online criminals.”
The British Phonographic Industry said: “Sites like The Pirate Bay destroy jobs in the UK and undermine investment in new British artists… Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them. This is wrong.”
The Motion Picture Association added that “The whole of the creative community will benefit from today’s action.”
The arguments aren’t all one-sided however.
Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group disagrees seeing the wider implications: “Blocking the Pirate Bay is pointless and dangerous. It will fuel calls for further, wider and even more drastic calls for Internet censorship of many kinds, from pornography to extremism.” he went on to say that “Internet censorship is growing in scope and becoming easier. Yet it never has the effect desired. It simply turns criminals into heroes.”
Meanwhile Virgin Media, who I hand my hard-earned to, put the point over that “changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives to give consumers access to great content at the right price.”
If TPB is to continue with its open sharing of music, software, books, and household objects then it may be time to get those UFO Drones airborn!
Do you agree with the court demanding that service providers block access to TPB and other sites? Do you believe that now this has gone through that musicians, writers, movie makers and actors will see more money – or will it be more cash to the labels and publishers?
