BT forced to block Newzbin file-sharing web site in historic ruling

BT has been forced to block the Newzbin2 file-sharing web site in an historic High Court ruling won by the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The MPA had called for the site to be blocked as it was hosting and making copyrighted content such as The King's Speech available for download. 

BT had confirmed to V3 that it was going to challenge the ruling when the case was first heard in June.

Interestingly, BT welcomed the decision, claiming that it showed that court orders are a necessary step for rights holders when seeking to have a site taken offline.

"This is a helpful judgement which provides clarity on this complex issue. It clearly shows that rights holders need to prove their claims and convince a judge to make a court order," a BT spokesperson said.

"BT has consistently said that rights holders need to take this route. We will return to court after the summer to explain what kind of order we believe is appropriate."

Robin Fry, partner at law firm Beachcroft LLP, explained that the decision will have a major impact on the future of the web, as copyright holders will be able to have sites taken offline without complex and time-consuming legal challenges.

"Internet service providers will simply accede to any order made. They won't have the information or the enthusiasm to challenge these kind of applications if they're made from now on," he said.

"For the rights owners, with their claims for injunctions likely to go mostly unchallenged in the future, there will be far less risk than with claims against site owners which can become derailed with lengthy technical arguments."

Fry also noted that the case was won under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, making the Digital Economy Act (DEA), which was designed to enable web blocking, almost completely unnecessary.

"This could make much of the DEA now irrelevant and will allow rights owners to side-step possibly lengthy stages under the DEA before a web site can be taken down," he told V3.

However, Peter Bradwell, a campaigner at the Open Rights Group, was outraged by the decision, claiming that it will do nothing to solve the issue of file sharing and will stifle innovation.

"Web site blocking is pointless and dangerous. These judgements won't stop infringement or boost the creative industries, and there are serious risks of legitimate content being blocked and service slowdown," he said.

"If the goal is boosting creators' ability to make money from their work, we need to abandon these technologically naive measures, focus on genuine market reforms, and satisfy unmet consumer demand."