[Chapter-delegates] Anti-Piracy Group Blackmails ISPs to Censor The Pirate Bay

[Livingood, Jason]

Rudi – I am curious if you have heard of any effects of the Belgain court orders to Belgacom and Telenet to implement DNS blocking. We on the ISOC Board are hearing of this in more and more venues (Spain being the latest). In Belgium I have heard rumor of the following:


"After obtaining the order from the Antwerp Court of Appeal, forcing Belgacom and Telenet to block access to the infringing website The Pirate Bay using domain name blocking, BAF sent out letters to all other Belgian ISPs during the month of November. In the letter they were asked to voluntarily install the same blocking measure as imposed by the court on Belgacom and Telenet. Up until now 14 of them have answered positively and DNS block the site for their subscribers, while some of them are blocking as well alternative domain names that were not named in the ruling, such as depiraatbaai.be. Only the access provider for universities and research facilities refuses to cooperate. A ComScore study that was just announced by BAF shows that visits to TPB originating from Belgium have dropped by 80% since November 2011 compared with traffic one year ago."

So my questions for what you are seeing in Belgium are:
1 – Does the 80% reduction in traffic seem credible? Or is it a flaw in measurement or did people use work arounds (3rd party DNS, VPN, proxy, etc.)?
2 – What are Internet users in Belgium saying?
3 – What are legislators saying?

Thank you!

Jason Livingood

On 12/6/11 4:54 AM, "Rudi Vansnick" <rudi.vansnick at isoc.be<mailto:rudi.vansnick at isoc.be>> wrote:


Belgian organisation requested blocking and filtering internet !!!

After a court ordered two of the largest Belgian Internet service providers to prevent their users accessing The Pirate Bay, the local anti-piracy outfit is now urging other ISPs to do the same. Internet providers who refuse to give in to this request within 10 days will be taken to court, a threatening letter explains. The blackmailing tactic seems to have worked, as one of the smaller ISPs has already disabled access to The Pirate Bay.

Late September the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered<http://torrentfreak.com/belgian-isps-ordered-to-block-the-pirate-bay-111004/> Belgian ISPs Belgacom and Telenet to initiate DNS blockades of 11 domains connected to The Pirate Bay.

After a court ordered two of the largest Belgian Internet service providers to prevent their users accessing The Pirate Bay, the local anti-piracy outfit is now urging other ISPs to do the same. Internet providers who refuse to give in to this request within 10 days will be taken to court, a threatening letter explains. The blackmailing tactic seems to have worked, as one of the smaller ISPs has already disabled access to The Pirate Bay.

Late September the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered<http://torrentfreak.com/belgian-isps-ordered-to-block-the-pirate-bay-111004/> Belgian ISPs Belgacom and Telenet to initiate DNS blockades of 11 domains connected to The Pirate Bay.

The Belgian Anti-Piracy Federation (BAF) applauded the verdict, which they see as a landmark decision opening the door to further censorship attempts. And indeed, without hesitation the group is putting the verdict to work in their favor.

NURPA, a Belgian advocacy group which promotes and protects the digital rights of citizens, has learned that BAF has sent a threatening letter to various Belgian ISPs. The group has managed to obtain a copy which they published<http://nurpa.be/actualites/2011/12/BAF-chantage-censure-Internet> on their site today.

In the letter, BAF mentions the recent verdict against the two Belgian Internet providers, which they say confirms The Pirate Bay is responsible for copyright infringement on a massive scale. To extend the ruling, the anti-piracy group is demanding that other ISPs also begin banning the site’s domains.

“To ensure an optimal effect, this measure should be implemented by all Internet service providers, not just by Belgacom and Telenet,” the anti-piracy group writes.

The ISPs have ten days to comply, BAF adds, or else the group will take them to court.

“Failing a satisfactory response from you within the time limit, the BAF will begin legal proceedings against you,” BAF threatens.

Full article on
https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-group-blackmails-isps-to-censor-the-pirate-bay-111205/


Rudi Vansnick
President - CEO
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