[At-Large] Anti-Piracy Group Blackmails ISPs to Censor The Pirate Bay

[Hong Xue]

Hi, Rudi, this is incredibly parallel to ICE's domain name seizure actions
in US. Could you elaborate if this is a notice-and-blockade measure (so ISP
is only supposed to block those specified domains) or is a generalized
filtering system (ISP has to block any access to Piracy Bay even without
notification from copyright owners)?

Hong


On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 5:54 PM, Rudi Vansnick <rudi.vansnick at isoc.be> wrote:

> Belgian organisation requested blocking and filtering internet !!!
>
> After a court ordered two of the largest Belgian Internet service
> providers to prevent their users accessing The Pirate Bay, the local
> anti-piracy outfit is now urging other ISPs to do the same. Internet
> providers who refuse to give in to this request within 10 days will be
> taken to court, a threatening letter explains. The blackmailing tactic
> seems to have worked, as one of the smaller ISPs has already disabled
> access to The Pirate Bay.
>
> Late September the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered Belgian ISPs Belgacom
> and Telenet to initiate DNS blockades of 11 domains connected to The Pirate
> Bay.
>
> After a court ordered two of the largest Belgian Internet service
> providers to prevent their users accessing The Pirate Bay, the local
> anti-piracy outfit is now urging other ISPs to do the same. Internet
> providers who refuse to give in to this request within 10 days will be
> taken to court, a threatening letter explains. The blackmailing tactic
> seems to have worked, as one of the smaller ISPs has already disabled
> access to The Pirate Bay.
>
> Late September the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered Belgian ISPs Belgacom
> and Telenet to initiate DNS blockades of 11 domains connected to The Pirate
> Bay.
>
> The Belgian Anti-Piracy Federation (BAF) applauded the verdict, which they
> see as a landmark decision opening the door to further censorship attempts.
> And indeed, without hesitation the group is putting the verdict to work in
> their favor.
>
> NURPA, a Belgian advocacy group which promotes and protects the digital
> rights of citizens, has learned that BAF has sent a threatening letter to
> various Belgian ISPs. The group has managed to obtain a copy which they
> published on their site today.
>
> In the letter, BAF mentions the recent verdict against the two Belgian
> Internet providers, which they say confirms The Pirate Bay is  responsible
> for copyright infringement on a massive scale. To extend the ruling, the
> anti-piracy group is demanding that other ISPs also begin banning the
> site’s domains.
>
> “To ensure an optimal effect, this measure should be implemented by all
> Internet service providers, not just by Belgacom and Telenet,” the
> anti-piracy group writes.
>
> The ISPs have ten days to comply, BAF adds, or else the group will take
> them to court.
>
> “Failing a satisfactory response from you within the time limit, the BAF
> will begin legal proceedings against you,” BAF threatens.
>
> Full article on
>
> https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-group-blackmails-isps-to-censor-the-pirate-bay-111205/
>
>
> Rudi Vansnick
> President - CEO
> ——————————————— Internet Society Belgium  —————————————————
> President - CEO                      Tel +32/(0)9/329.39.16
> rudi.vansnick at isoc.be            Mobile +32/(0)475/28.16.32
> Dendermondesteenweg 143        B-9070 Destelbergen  BELGIUM
> www.internetsociety.be       "The Internet is for everyone"
> ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
>
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-- 
Dr. Hong Xue
Professor of Law
Director of Institute for the Internet Policy & Law (IIPL)
Beijing Normal University
http://www.iipl.org.cn/ <http://iipl.org.cn/>
19 Xin Jie Kou Wai Street
Beijing 100875 China