Dutch ISPs Refuse To Block The Pirate Bay Without A Direct Order

from the good-for-them dept

While some Dutch ISPs have been ordered by a court to block access to The Pirate Bay (after fighting it in court for years), the order only applied directly to two ISPs: xs4all and Ziggo. BREIN, the local anti-piracy group, had then demanded that other ISPs also start blocking access. However, it appears that KPN and T-Mobile are refusing, saying that they will not do so without a direct court order:

“KPN sees the blocking of websites as a drastic measure for which a court order is required,” KPN said in a statement, adding that innovation is needed to curb piracy.

“KPN doesn’t believe a blockade is the right solution. What is needed are robust, attractive business models that are easy to use and offer a fair deal to both producers and consumers of content.”

T-Mobile also said that it will only respond to court orders, while it emphasized the value of an open Internet.

“T-Mobile strongly supports an open Internet and is fundamentally against shutting off access to websites. Dutch law is very clear when it comes to blocking access to the Internet. T-Mobile will only respond to a court ruling, not to demands from a private party such as BREIN.”

It's good to see that these ISPs are standing up for the right to an open internet. Of course, I do wonder how such block orders work under Netherlands' (first of its kind) net neutrality law.

In the meantime, the two ISPs who were subject to the court order have begun the blockade, with Ziggo pointing users to an information page... in which they tell users that it's easy to get around the blockade.

Filed Under: blocks, isps, netherlands
Companies: brein, kpn, t-mobile, the pirate bay, xs4all, ziggo

Court Rules That The Pirate Bay Must Block Dutch Users... Again... But ISPs Don't Have To Block

from the for-all-works? dept

A year after an initial ruling saying that all Dutch users must be blocked from reaching The Pirate Bay, another court has upheld the ruling, saying not only that The Pirate Bay must block Dutch users from accessing the site, but that three of the site's founders have to pay 50,000 euros per day if they fail to do so. Given how those three have responded to previous rulings, I imagine they won't pay much attention to this ruling either.

Of course, the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has been fighting this campaign on both fronts. Not only was it trying to force The Pirate Bay to block access to Dutch surfers, but it was also trying to force ISPs to block access back to The Pirate Bay as well. The good news is that the courts have actually rejected that attempt, saying that "there is no evidence that the majority of the customers are using The Pirate Bay to infringe copyright" and that if BREIN wants to target users, it should target them individually.

Filed Under: blocking, copyright, isps, netherlands
Companies: the pirate bay, ziggo

Dutch ISPs Fighting Demands That They Block Access To The Pirate Bay

from the freedom-of-choice dept

The Dutch "anti-piracy" group BREIN has been one of the most aggressive in bringing all kinds of lawsuits in attempting to use basically any means possible to block various torrent sites. It has sued ISPs telling them they need to block The Pirate Bay and it has sued The Pirate Bay, telling it that it needs to block all Dutch users from accessing the site. On the ISP front, it appears that a few Dutch ISPs are teaming up to challenge the demand that it needs to block foreign sites like The Pirate Bay:

"The basic principle of the Internet is that ISPs pass on traffic to their customers unfiltered, they are merely a gateway," says Niels Huijbregts, spokesman for XS4ALL. "The Pirate Bay website is not hosted on a Ziggo server, so Ziggo can't be held responsible for restricting access to the website. BREIN is targeting the wrong people."

While this makes sense, it seems like every time we hear about court cases involving BREIN, the group comes out on top. So if I had to guess, I'm assuming that BREIN will win again. Hopefully I'll be surprised and the Dutch courts will pick up some common sense somewhere along the way.

Filed Under: blocking, copyright, isps, netherlands
Companies: brein, xs4all, ziggo