Court orders BT to block access to Newzbin2 pirate site

BT has been ordered to block access to the Newzbin2 website after a successful challenge in the High Court by the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The landmark ruling is the first time an internet service provider (ISP) has been ordered to block access to a website accused of facilitating piracy.

It paves the way for rights holders to launch further legal challenges to force internet service providers (ISPS) to block access to other sites that host copyright material illegally.

Rejecting BT's argument that it is has no responsibility to act against copyright theft, Justice Arnold said: "In my judgment it follows that BT has actual knowledge of other persons using its service to infringe copyright: it knows that the users and operators of Newbin2 infringe copyright on a large scale, and in particular infringe the copyrights of the Studios in large numbers of their films and television programmes, it knows that the users of Newzbin2 include BT subscribers, and it knows those users use its service to receive infringing copies of copyright works made available to them by Newzbin2."

The MPA, which represents film studios such as Disney and Warner Bros, took the case to court in an ongoing battle against the Newzbin 2 site, which hosts unlicensed copies of movies, TV shows, games and other copyrighted content. The site, which has over 700,000 members, already has a legal judgment against it and is believed to make in excess of £1 million per year.

Chris Marcich, president and managing director (EMEA), MPA said: "This ruling from Justice Arnold is a victory for millions of people working in the UK creative industries and demonstrates that the law of the land must apply online.

"This court action was never an attack on ISPs but we do need their cooperation to deal with the Newzbin site, which continually tries to evade the law and judicial sanction.

"Newzbin is a notorious pirate website that makes hundreds of thousands of copyrighted products available without permission and with no regard for the law."

BT said it would return to court to clarify how it will implement the order to block Newzbin2. It said that the ruling was "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. 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."