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

[Patrick Vande Walle]

On 06.12.2011 12:05, Hong Xue wrote: 

> 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)?

Hello Hong, 

There are
two major differences with ICE's domain name seizures.

1. It is the
result of an apppeals court decision, not one of an administration.
2.
The domain names were not seized. Rather, the two ISPs were asked to
redirect the queries to those two domain names to an IP address pointing
to a police-run web site, announcing the blockade.

Indeed, the court
decision refers to blocking DNS access access only, for a well-defined
list of domain names. It does not ask to block access to the IP
address(es) of the Pirate Bay. 

It is interesting to note that, in the
meantime, the European Court of Justice, has ruled on a slightly related
case. See:
http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-11/cp110126en.pdf
. Based on the jurisprudence of the ECJ, there is possibility that the
original court decision could be revised. 

Additionally, there is
content featured on The Pirate Bay for which the plaintiff does not hold
IP rights but gets blocked anyway. Collateral damage, if you like.

It
remains to be seen of the two ISPs that were asked to block the domain
names will file a motion to revise the judgement. There are some legal
uncertainties here. 

Best,

Patrick Vande Walle