Pirate Bay blockage may violate EU law

A recent Danish court decision against an ISP violates EU law, a Swedish judge has declared. Cecilia Renfors, a government investigator being asked to propose new file-sharing legislation, says that Denmark was in error when it told Tele2 to prevent customers from reaching The Pirate Bay, a site well-known for aiding piracy through hosting BitTorrent trackers. The site's owners are in fact facing copyright infringement accusations from a group including Fox, EMI, Sony BMG and Universal.

Judge Renfors argues, however, that under Article 5.1 of the European Parliament's Infosoc Directive, Tele2 has every right to retain access to The Pirate Bay. Illegal material is only held in its routers temporarliy, thereby making it an intermediary, and exempt from copyright laws specified elsewhere.

Tele2 is said to be planning a court challenge to the Danish ruling. The Pirate Bay, meanwhile, is attempting to circumvent blocking through The Jesper Bay, a site named after one of the heads of the music trade group IFPI. Traffic to The Pirate Bay is even said to have gone up in recent days, in spite of the Danish government's efforts. [via TorrentFreak]

Filed under: industry, networking
Other story tags: music, Universal, lawsuits, BitTorrent, Fox, Sony BMG, piracy, Sweden, IFPI, Denmark