BT has been given two weeks to implement a block on link aggregation site, Newzbin2, following a ruling in the High Court.
The block was originally ordered by a High Court judge in July. Now BT has been told that it must pay the cost of implementing it. The ISP intends to use its CleanFeed software, developed in conjunction with the Internet Watch Foundation, normally used to filter out child pornography. BT has previously said that it would not be straightforward to adapt CleanFeed so it could be used in this way.
Chris Marcich, president and managing director of the Motion Picture Association said ‘This is a win for the creative sector. Securing the intervention of the ISPs was the only way to put the commercial pirates out of reach for the majority of consumers.’ And Lord Puttnam, President of the Film Distributors’ Association claimed that the ruling marked a ‘very significant day for the UK’s creative industries. The law is clear. Industrial online piracy is illegal and can be stopped.’
Newzbin2, a members-only site which doesn’t host any illegal content itself, was launched after a previous court ruling banned its predecessor, Newzbin. The current site operators claim they are working on ways of circumventing the ordered block.
The Open Rights Group, which opposes the block, said today: ‘Website blocking simply will not work. It’s a dangerous technological intervention when the legal markets are still a mess. Consumers have moved online a lot quicker than the creative industries. The focus should be on making sure they catch up with consumer demand instead of these deranged plans to censor what people are allowed to look at.’
Marcich claimed that following the block, the MPA would be able to ‘invest more in our own digital offerings, delivering higher quality and more variety of products to the consumer.’ The movie industry, however, has been criticised for being to slow to make its content available legally online. A report compiled by the Open Rights Group earlier this month found that only 43% of the current Top 50 British films can be bought or rented online, while only 58% of BAFTA Best Film winners are available.
