Can piracy be blocked, at least effectively? Tough question, though maybe Britain is the perfect petri dish. This all started when the High Court in London ordered BT to block Newzbin2, a site known for indexing copyrighted content. Now, it's time for a much bigger fish: ahead of the weekend, British label group BPI demanded, in no uncertain terms, that BT block access to the Pirate Bay, or face legal repercussions. BT is the largest ISP in the country, and potentially the first domino in this fight.
This is a showdown, and the labels aren't asking nicely. "Building
on the Newzbin2 precedent, music industry trade body the BPI, supported by the UK creative industries, has written to BT to ask it to block the Pirate Bay voluntarily," the trade group stated. "If BT will not agree to block voluntarily, then it has been asked to consent to a court order."
Which is exactly what BT will do: according to paidContent, the country's largest ISP will wait for a court order to tell them to start filtering. It's all part of a costly legal fight, though part of a desperate defense against what has been termed a 'web censorship state'. If the order is obtained, BT would not only be forced to block access to the Pirate Bay, but most likely be required to block inevitable workarounds, mirrors, and other access points. And, they'd have to incur the costs of these blocks, while potentially dealing with churn from unhappy subscribers.
Tough, says the BPI, which is being joined in the action by a consortium that appears to include the Motion Picture Association (MPA). Outside of the UK, ISPs in countries like Denmark, Finland and Italy have also been forced to block Pirate Bay access. BT currently counts about six million subscribers, or roughly 1 in 10 British broadband users.
Comments Closed
mathieu prevost Monday, November 07, 2011
Too little, too late. The best locks in the world will never deter a determined thief.
Visitor Thursday, November 10, 2011
The locks on my apartment have worked quite well so far. The only time I've been burglarized in crime-ridden Philly or NYC was when I left the window open.
So the question is just how "determined" the thieves are. If you make thievery too difficult, and the penalties strong and commonly enforced enough, most thievery stops. Modern civilization would be impossible otherwise.
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Esteban Holewa Monday, November 07, 2011
It's about time that someone banned together to make a stand against web pirating. Even though it will be hard to stop someone who is determined enough, and has the knowledge, to go around ISP blocks and get the free music they want. These kinds of steps need to be taken to protect artists and their music. As an indie producer I am sick of seeing people steal from small artists who work hard to get their music to the masses on their own dollar, only to have one person leak it to the world.
Bryan Monday, November 07, 2011
/ \ / \ Monday, November 07, 2011
You seem to confuse "reminding the law" with "threat". Perhaps you also confuse offshore accounts with grassroots movements?
Unknown Monday, November 07, 2011
Good for the Brits. Althought that society is definilty beyond the "BIG BROTHER" world that Orwell warned about, I agree with this measure.
As a Indi producer, I will release a track for Free from time to time to give back to the consumer who has supported my sounds as well as for a marketing tool.
But 'Theft' is theft. You can not walk into the now Defunct "CD" stores or Record stores and walk out with the EP, without paying.
Of course, like any business, there is slippage. IE: buying a CD, then recording it and giving it to a friend. There is nothing we can do about that. However, for a site to host "Ripp'd" music for consumer download can be shut down.
Grooveshark Monday, November 07, 2011
If the labels are successful in the UK, the next step will be suing the US ISPs over Grooveshark...
Visitor Monday, November 07, 2011
which is exactly what is going to happen to those little dicks
Karen Monday, November 07, 2011
shut up Ron
Charisma Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Karen, I am curious, do you read minds? How do you know his/her name is "Ron"?
@BigChampagne Monday, November 07, 2011
BigChampagne.com
Music biz needs big stories. This is a small story.
Arthur J. Owens Tuesday, November 08, 2011
If the following quote in the article is accurate: "If BT will not agree to block voluntarily, then it has been asked to consent to a court order", then the Trade group is still simply asking for consent in another form. The functional language that I'm referring to in itallics: "... then it has been asked to consent to a court order". BT won't do it voluntarily, it says it needs a court order, and now the trade group is asking BT to consent to a court order. Still an "ask" involved. If the trade group could really get a court to issue an order, then why would it be waiting?
Visitor Thursday, November 10, 2011
Yes!
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