CyberLaw Blog

Finnish ISP Ordered To Block The Pirate Bay

Finnish ISP Ordered To Block The Pirate Bay: “

In May, the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre (CIAPC) and the Finnish branch of the music industry group IFPI announced that they had filed a lawsuit at the District Court in Helsinki.

The groups demanded that Finnish ISP Elisa should censor The Pirate Bay to protect the copyrights of their members. Elisa, however, refused to do so and described the blocking demands as ‘unreasonable’. But following a decision today from the Helsinki District Court they are left with no choice.

The court sided with the entertainment industry and ruled that Elisa should block access to The Pirate Bay before November 18, or face a 100,000 euro fine. Aside from various domain names, the court ruling also states that the ISP has to block access to the IP-addresses used by The Pirate Bay servers.

In a response to the ruling Elisa immediately announced that it will appeal the District Court’s decision. The ISP claims that among other things, the ruling is very unclear as it doesn’t state the specific domain names or IP-addresses that should be censored.

Elisa further says that the decision is practically irrelevant in the broader fight against online copyright infringement.

‘The industry should focus on measures that can truly reduce piracy in practice, such as making content available online at a reasonable price and without artificial delays,’ Elisa’s Henri Korpi said.

The Pirate Bay is currently listed as one of the 50 most-visited websites in Finland, and it is doubtful whether a blockade by Elisa will have much of an effect.

A Pirate Bay spokesperson told TorrentFreak there are many ways to circumvent such censorship attempts, and that the order may actually have the opposite effect to what was intended.

‘Blocks in other countries only boosted our traffic numbers, so we see this as free advertising,’ we were told.

Earlier this month Belgian ISPs Belgacom and Telenet were hit with a similar verdict, limited to blocking the Pirate Bay’s domain names. This blockade went into effect a few days ago but The Pirate Bay informs TorrentFreak that they haven’t seen a significant drop in traffic from Belgium.

In addition to Belgium, the popular BitTorrent site is currently censored in Ireland, Italy, Turkey and Denmark. An attempt to establish a similar blockade in The Netherlands failed last year because there was no evidence that the majority of an ISPs’ users are infringing copyright through The Pirate Bay.

Source: Finnish ISP Ordered To Block The Pirate Bay

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(Via TorrentFreak.)

BPI and MPA Demand UK Pirate Bay Blockade

BPI and MPA Demand UK Pirate Bay Blockade: “

It has always been presumed that the legal action to have Newzbin2 blocked in the UK was just the beginning for the music and movie studios. Today we have that confirmation.

A coalition of the willing, headed up by the BPI and including the major Hollywood studios, approached BT, the UK’s leading ISP, with a demand – block The Pirate Bay voluntarily or consent to a court order.

The self-styled ‘world’s most resilient torrent site’ is no stranger to censorship. It is already blocked by ISPs in Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Denmark and Belgium but the quest to put it completely out of business continues.

‘The Pirate Bay is no more than a huge scam on the global creative sector. It defrauds musicians and other creators of their wages, and it destroys UK jobs,’ said Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive.

‘Unlike legal music download sites, it exposes consumers to the risk of viruses, theft of personal information and inappropriate content. We would not tolerate Counterfeits ‘R’ Us on the High Street – if we want economic growth, we cannot accept illegal rip-off sites on the internet either. We hope that BT will do the right thing and block The Pirate Bay.’

But at this stage PaidContent is reporting that BT will not simply roll over and comply with the demand for The Pirate Bay to be blocked voluntarily.

‘BT cannot block web sites willy nilly,’ said the BT source.

Voluntary action aside, BT has reportedly been given the chance to consent to a court order. If the ISP refuses it seems likely that the parties will end up in court for a mirrored re-run of the arguments in the Newzbin2 case. If there are no surprises the High Court could order a blockade of The Pirate Bay in the first half of 2012.

After a lengthy legal process the censoring of Newzbin2 finally kicked in earlier this week, but users of the site are reportedly bypassing the block by various means including the use of Newzbin2′s very own anti-blocking software.

A feature to unblock The Pirate Bay in the event that it too became blocked was already added to the client several weeks ago.

Speaking with TorrentFreak, a Pirate Bay insider laughed off the efforts to slow down the site and said that every time there are attempts at censorship the resulting publicity only gives them a boost.

‘Thanks yet again for the free advertising,’ they conclude.

Source: BPI and MPA Demand UK Pirate Bay Blockade

“

(Via TorrentFreak.)

Newzbin 2 operators launch software to counteract site-blocking measures, reports say

Newzbin 2 operators launch software to counteract site-blocking measures, reports say: “A copyright-infringing website has developed software to circumvent technology BT has been ordered to use to prevent its customers accessing the site, according to media reports.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

UK Government already has network suspension powers if public order threatened

Government already has network suspension powers if public order threatened: “The Government has the power to suspend communications networks in the interests of public safety or national security. Communications network operators have told MPs that such bans would not improve public safety.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

New Zealand’s Illegal File-Sharing Law Takes Effect

New Zealand’s Illegal File-Sharing Law Takes Effect: “

Law allows for fines of up to NZ$15,000 ($12,000) and Internet account suspensions for up to six months; Labour Party vows to repeal ‘within 90 days.’

Today is a sad day for Internet users in New Zealand as the country’s long-delayed ‘three-strikes’ law takes effect in that country.

New Zealand enacted ‘three-strikes’ legislation this past April after several years of ill-fated attempts. The law allows for fines of up to NZ$15,000 ($12,000) and Internet account suspensions for up to six months.

The law takes effect despite a UN report that concluded disconnecting Internet users, ‘regardless of the justification provided,’ is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because it limits the type of media individuals are allowed to use to express themselves.

UN Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue said that he was ‘alarmed’ by ‘disproportionate’ Internet disconnection proposals, and that individuals should never have their Internet access terminated for any reason, including copyright infringement.

Following that report, the opposition Labour Party, which had originally voted in favor of the legislation, said it agreed with La Rue’s assessment that Internet disconnection violates international law, and called for a ‘complete review’ of New Zealand’s copyright laws.

It reiterated its opposition to Internet disconnection in a recent press release, vowing to introduce a Bill within 90 days to remove the ‘termination clauses’ from the Copyright Act; it promises to introduce a new Bill within 18 months to ‘update’ and ‘extend’ digital copyright laws that won’t disconnect copyright infringers.

‘Termination is unsustainable,’ said Clare Curran, Labour’s Communications and IT spokesperson. ‘Labour voted for the Bill in April because we stuck by a commitment to work with the Government to enable Internet service providers and rights holders to reach a compromise on copyright law.’

‘That compromise meant that termination of Internet access as an ultimate penalty for repeat copyright infringement remained in the Bill, but could not be enacted without the consent of the Minister, but it is clear that this won’t work long-term.’

She said the real debate is about shifting power, access to information, out-dated business models, and the immense potential of the Internet to change the world as we know it.

‘These solutions are, of course, bigger than simply tinkering with a single section of the Copyright Act,’ added. ‘That’s why Labour will review the whole Act with a view to encouraging new business models to emerge which will distribute digital content easily and affordably.

‘It’s a fundamental principle to ensure that the work of Kiwi creators is valued and that they can maintain control over their own works. The old business models — by which the distribution of creative works was controlled by big companies — have gone.

She’s right, and that’s what they whole fight has been about: prying loose old distribution models and democratizing them. For the first time artists can disseminate their works to the entire world on their own terms, and individuals can likewise access creative works on a scale that was for most of man’s existence unimaginable.

‘Citizens everywhere are hungry for information and creative material via the digital environment. It is absolutely essential we get the balance right,’ Curran said.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com “

(Via ZeroPaid.com.)

Kazakhstan considers monitoring internet cafe users – Telegraph

Kazakhstan considers monitoring internet cafe users – Telegraph

By James Kilner, Central Asia correspondent

3:20PM BST 29 Aug 2011

The potential new regulations are part of a wider attempt by the Kazakh authorities to cut the flow of videos and literature produced by militant Islamists which they blame for fueling extremist violence.

This month a court in Kazakhstan blocked access to the popular Russian blogging platform LiveJournal and other sites because Islamic extremists had been using them. Earlier this year a court also stopped access to the WordPress blogging site for several weeks for similar reasons.

The head of the Kazakh Interior Ministry’s department to combat information technology crime, Erseri Utegaliyev, told the Express-K newspaper that internet cafes in Kazakhstan are favoured by fraudsters and extremists.

‘Basically these things are committed in internet cafes and that is why we are now looking at the idea of monitoring clients using a number of records to show the time of their work and the IP address used,’ he said in an interview published last Thursday.

The Express-K article also described how under the proposed regulations, internet cafes may have to install cameras to video their customers.
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In May, a suicide bomber attacked a security services office in western Kazakhstan. This was the first suicide bomb in Kazakhstan’s 20-year post-Soviet history and the authorities quickly blamed militant Islamists for the attack.

Since then there have been a handful of shootouts between police and gunmen in the west of the country but the authorities, perhaps wary of the potential damage to Kazakhstan’s reputation as the most stable of the five Central Asian states, have been blamed these attacks on criminal gangs rather than militant Islamists.

Cutting militant Islamists’ communication channels is considered vital in defeating extremism but rights groups say internet cenorship in Kazakhstan has gone too far.

On Friday, the Paris-based media lobby group Reporters Without Borders said it was becoming increasingly concerned with Kazakhstan’s heavy-handed internet censorship.

‘It is legitimate to combat terrorism, but this should not result in the closure of independent news websites,’ Reporters without Borders said in a statement.

Western Kazakhstan is particularly vulnerable to militant Islam. It is the focus of Kazakhstan’s important oil and gas industry which has generated much wealth but also created a large income gap.

The region is also only a relatively short boat ride across the Caspian Sea from the North Caucasus where Russia has been fighting militant Islamists for two decades. Recently a number of Kazakhs have been killed fighting alongside militants in the North Caucasus.

Kazakh court rules to block popular blog site

Kazakh court rules to block popular blog site

PETER LEONARD
August 20, 2011

Kazakhstan barred access to the popular Livejournal blog platform on Friday, just a few weeks after a two-month ban on the similar WordPress blog was lifted.

Courts spokeswoman Aylana Iskendirova said the decision was made at the request of prosecutors, who said the site featured extremist religious material and incitements to terrorism.

Authorities in the former Soviet nation routinely block blogs and the sites of independent newspapers, citing similar motivations.
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Iskendirova said the complaint related to radical Islamist blogs and that another Russian-owned blog platform, LiveInternet.ru, has also been subjected to the ban.

‘Even under international conventions, it is mandated that we hinder terrorism, extremism and other such things,’ Iskendirova said.

The court ruling was due to come into effect Saturday, but the blog platforms were already inaccessible one day before that deadline.

Livejournal had been made unavailable to Kazakh Internet users for two years up until late last year.

Observers speculated that the extended blockage might have been prompted by writings on a blog maintained by Rakhat Aliyev, the estranged former son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Aliyev published material alleging corruption by high-level Kazakh officials online using Livejournal.

The blog was eventually deleted by Livejournal, which declined to reveal the motives for the action.

Although it has largely fallen out of favor in the United States, Livejournal still remains one of the most popular blogging resources in former Soviet states, like Kazakhstan and Russia.

In July, Communications and Information Ministry officials announced they would restore access to U.S.-based WordPress, two months after it went offline. The ministry said it took the decision after WordPress agreed to remove material deemed to be inciting terrorism.

The website of the country’s most outspoken independent newspaper, Respublika, has been inaccessible since last year.

Kazakhstan closes over 50 foreign websites due to extremist religious propaganda | Kazakhstan | Trend

Kazakhstan closes over 50 foreign websites due to extremist religious propaganda | Kazakhstan | Trend

[02.09.2011 13:05]

Kazakhstan closed over 50 foreign sites under a court ruling against ‘promoting religious extremism and terrorism,’ the Kazakh General Prosecutor’s Office reported.

The Sariarka Court of Astana made a decision on 51 illegal foreign sites and closed them down for spreading products in Kazakhstan which promoted religious extremism and terrorism.

Over 10,000 sites are monitored in Kazakhstan, ITAR-TASS reported.

The official representative of the prosecutor’s office, Zhandos Umiraliyev, said the office ‘takes systematic measures to curb activities for individual sites that distribute information of an extremist and religious nature, promote terrorism, and other illegal content.’

Digital Economy Act’s copyright provisions should be repealed, Lib Dem policy proposal says

Digital Economy Act’s copyright provisions should be repealed, Lib Dem policy proposal says: “Copyright laws set out in the Digital Economy Act (DEA) are ‘deeply flawed and unworkable’ and should be abolished, a Liberal Democrat policy proposal has said.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Domain Seizures Do Not Violate Free Speech, U.S. Court Rules

Domain Seizures Do Not Violate Free Speech, U.S. Court Rules: “

A U.S. federal court has ruled that the domain seizure of sports streaming site Rojadirecta does not violate the First Amendment, and has refused to hand the domain back to its Spanish owner. The order stands in conflict with previous Supreme Court rulings and doesn’t deliver much hope to other website owners who operate under U.S. controlled domain names.

At the end of January 2011 the U.S. authorities began yet another round of domain seizures, this time against sites connected with sports streaming. This third round of action in ‘Operation in Our Sites’ took control of domains owned by sports streaming site Rojadirecta.

While most owners of affected domains have decided not to appeal the seizures, the Spanish owner of the Rojadirecta, one of Spain’s most popular sites, did.

Two months ago the company behind the site, Puerto 80, filed a petition in the Southern District of New York for the return of its domains. This call was later supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) who together with Center for Democracy and Technology and Public Knowledge submitted an amicus brief in support of the Spanish company.

Yesterday, United States District Court Judge Paul Crotty decided to deny Puerto 80′s request, which means the domain will remain in the hands of the U.S. Government. The Judge argues that seizing Rojadirecta’s .com and .org domains does not violate the First Amendment of the Constitution.

‘Puerto 80’s First Amendment argument fails,’ the Judge writes.

‘Puerto 80 alleges that, in seizing the domain names, the Government has suppressed the content in the ‘forums’ on its websites, which may be accessed by clicking a link in the upper left of the home page. The main purpose of the Rojadirecta websites, however, is to catalog links to the copyrighted athletic events — any argument to the contrary is clearly disingenuous.’

The Judge further ruled that the claimed 32% decline in traffic and the subsequent harm to Puerto 80′s business is not an issue as visitors can still access the site through foreign domains. Puerto 80′s argument, that users may not be aware of these alternatives, was simply waived.

‘Rojadirecta argues that, because ‘there is no way to communicate the availability of these alternative sites on the .org or .com domains . . . the vast majority of users will simply stop visiting the sites altogether.’ This argument is unfounded — Rojadirecta has a large internet presence and can simply distribute information about the seizure and its new domain names to its customers,’ the Judge writes.

‘In addition, Puerto 80 does not explain how it generates profit or argue that it is losing a significant amount of revenue as a result of the seizure. Specifically, Puerto 80 states that it does not generate revenue from the content to which it links, and it does not claim to generate revenue from advertising displayed while such content is playing,’ Judge Crotty adds.

From the above the Judge concludes that the drop in visitor traffic due to their seizure does not establish a substantial hardship, and therefore no reason exists to return the domain.

This line of reasoning goes directly against previous rulings in First Amendment cases. As the EFF points out, in two earlier Supreme Court decisions it was concluded that having alternatives available does not mean that freedom of speech isn’t violated.

According to the EFF, the peculiarities of the ruling don’t end there.

‘As if misapplying the relevant substantive First Amendment analysis wasn’t bad enough, the court failed to even address the fatal procedural First Amendment flaws inherent in the seizure process: namely, that a mere finding of ‘probable cause’ does not and cannot justify a prior restraint. How the court believes that the seizure satisfies the First Amendment in this regard is a mystery,’ they write.

The decision of District Court Judge Paul Crotty to stand firmly behind the Government is worrying for all other websites who operate under U.S. controlled domains. It’s yet another step in granting the Government and copyright holders more control over the Internet, at the expense of smaller businesses and the rights of citizens.

Source: Domain Seizures Do Not Violate Free Speech, U.S. Court Rules

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(Via TorrentFreak.)