Upholds earlier decision requiring Tele 2 to block access to the BitTorrent tracker site over allegations that it contributes to copyright infringement by allowing customers to access the site.
It was a while back that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry(IFPI) won a case in a Danish court requiring ISP Tele 2 to prevent its internet subscribers from accessing Swedish BitTorrent tracker site The Pirate Bay. The IFPI accused Tele 2 of contributing to copyright infringement for merely allowing customers to access the site.
A judgment delivered a few days by a Danish appeal court upholds that earlier decision requiring access to the Pirate Bay to be blocked.
This effort by the IFPI t is the latest step forward in attempts by the entertainment industry to target ISPs in helping stop online P2P piracy. It was a little more than 2 weeks ago that seven leading movie studios and a TV network filed a lawsuit against iiNet, a major Australian ISP, accusing it of copyright infringement for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent illegal file-sharing by customers on its network.
This latest ruling was obviously welcome news to the IFPI. It’s Chairman and CEO John Kennedy said: "This is a very important decision which sets a precedent for other countries and highlights the key role that ISPs should play in helping protect copyright online . The ruling is also a clear confirmation of the illegality of the Pirate Bay, coming just a few weeks before the criminal prosecution of the site’s operators in Sweden. For everyone trying to make a living out of music, this is hopefully the start of the endgame for a business which is ripping off creators all over the world, and whose motivation is very clearly nothing to do with music but a great deal to do with making money."
What Kennedy doesn’t acknowledge is that torrent trackers, the only thing hosted by The Pirate Bay, are not copyrighted material. To target sites that allow visitors to access copyrighted material hosted by third parties would mean that all sites, like Google or Rapidshare for example, could be indicted.
The organization representing independent record companies also welcomed the decision. Alison Wenham, President of the World Independent Network (WIN) said: "It is very good news to see the courts clarifying that ISPs have a key role to play in helping curb sites like Pirate Bay which simply trade on the theft of the work of creative people."
The effort is really pointless, however, for not only has The Pirate Bay developed a workaround for Danish visitors of its own, but there’s still tens of thousands of other BitTorrent tracker sites to choose from. ISPs cannot block them all.
jared@zeropaid.com
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