Dutch ISPs push back over Pirate Bay blocks
updated 06:15 pm EDT, Sat May 26, 2012
Demands from anti-piracy group BREIN defied by some ISPs
Internet service providers in the Netherlands are refusing to block The Pirate Bay, following the file sharing site changing its IP addresses. TorrentFreak reports that the addition of a new proxy-friendly version of the site on a new IP address is allowing customers on ISPs blocking The Pirate Bay to access the site once again, with anti-piracy group BREIN attempting to censor the extra addresses to mixed results.
A court order in January forced two of the largest ISPs to block all addresses for The Pirate Bay and 20 other domain names or face 250,000 Euro ($313,000) fines, with a second ordering in May ordering five other ISPs to block a specific IP address. With the recent extra address for The Pirate Bay, BREIN ordered the ISPs in the first court order to block the IP, with both Ziggo and XS4ALL obliging due to terms permitting changes to the IP addresses to block. The ISPs from the second order, however, are not legally bound to block the new IP, as the order did not include such terms. This has not stopped BREIN from asking two of the ISPs to block the address, with Tele2 and KPN saying they will not comply without a court order.
The Dutch parliament rejected a law at the end of last year which would have made direct downloads illegal, and earlier this month the Netherlands became the first EU country to pass a net neutrality law.
Founders of The Pirate Bay were sentenced to time in prison in February, with each to serve 12 months or less behind bars and also pay a $6.8 million fine.
