I don't think this is going to come as any great surprise, but according to the BBC the British Phonographic Industry have written to BT asking them to block the pirate bay, and claimed that they will take the matter to court if they don't comply willingly.
This is now the first real test of the damage done by the initial court ruling that forced BT to block access to newbinz earlier this year. If that case is used as precedent to get this pushed through, it will show once and for all that the big media corporations have been handed censorship rights over the UKs access to the Internet.
The only glimmer of hope is that the newsboy case revolepved around a site that had already been ordered cellars down once before. It is only to be hoped that a reasonable court will realise that the pirate bay has ot been declared illegal in the uk.
It is important to note that the pirate bay itself is a search engine, that they do not host any infringing material themselves. Indeed, the searches that the pirate bay allow can be performed just as easily with google as wi the pirate bay.
It is impossible to overemphasise the importance of this step. If this goes to court and BT are ordered to block access to the pirate bay, it will indicate the beginning of a trend at sees the big corporations able to block any site at they deem to be objectional. If ever there was a moment for a British justice system to recognise the importance of what they are being asked to rule on, it is now, and I very much fear that this will not be the case.
This is now the first real test of the damage done by the initial court ruling that forced BT to block access to newbinz earlier this year. If that case is used as precedent to get this pushed through, it will show once and for all that the big media corporations have been handed censorship rights over the UKs access to the Internet.
The only glimmer of hope is that the newsboy case revolepved around a site that had already been ordered cellars down once before. It is only to be hoped that a reasonable court will realise that the pirate bay has ot been declared illegal in the uk.
It is important to note that the pirate bay itself is a search engine, that they do not host any infringing material themselves. Indeed, the searches that the pirate bay allow can be performed just as easily with google as wi the pirate bay.
It is impossible to overemphasise the importance of this step. If this goes to court and BT are ordered to block access to the pirate bay, it will indicate the beginning of a trend at sees the big corporations able to block any site at they deem to be objectional. If ever there was a moment for a British justice system to recognise the importance of what they are being asked to rule on, it is now, and I very much fear that this will not be the case.
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