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Italian Court Rules ISPs Must Block Access To Pirate Bay

Posted by timothy on from the triremes-on-patrol dept.

introt writes "After first being blocked in 2008, an Italian court has once again ruled that ISPs in the nation must block access to the infamous torrent tracker The Pirate Bay, leaving millions of users without access to one of the most popular sites on the planet. In the original case, after an appeal by the Pirate Bay, the Court of Bergamo ruled that foreign websites cannot be blocked over alleged copyright infringement. Fast forward until today and the Supreme Court has ruled that ISPs can indeed be forced to block torrent sites, even if they are foreign-based."

7 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Is tecnically feasible? by Tei · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can pretty much use any VPN, Proxy, TOR, etc.. maybe a DNS entry to avoid blocking. Is this like ruling against the clouds stoping the sun from warming the empirer body or something?

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    -Woof woof woof!

    1. Re:Is tecnically feasible? by chill · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you think this sort of thing is unique to internet laws, you must be new to the law.

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      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  2. This just in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fast forward until today and the Supreme Court has ruled that ISPs can indeed be forced to block torrent sites, even if they are foreign-based.

    This just in: A government agency simultaneously

    a. reaffirms the power of the government
    b. shows a lack of understanding of technical issues

    News at 11pm

  3. Censoring communication because a corp says so by mykos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is getting very frightening; corporations are now able to use anti-piracy laws to decide what people can and can't communicate. It's not so much a slippery slope as it is a free fall from the edge of the mountain. What's next, banning google because you can add the word "torrent" to a search?

  4. Meanwhile... by JackSpratts · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...Norway says s'ok! http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLc2Sd0IGZ0-56w-d7FAPNImTzZw

  5. Hmmm. by IonOtter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Italian Government: You will BAN the web address for the Pirate Bay!

    ISP: Okay. *adds thepiratebay.com and thepiratebay.org to the "ban" list.*

    Italian Government: ...You did that awful fast. Are you sure it's blocked?

    ISP: Try it.

    Italian Government: *types in both URLs with no joy* Right. Good riddance.

    ISP: Yup. Bye.

    Home user: *types 194.71.107.15 into their browser*

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    [End Of Line]
  6. Re:one of the most popular sites on the planet by mcgrew · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is not an argument whether or not copyright laws are just or unjust. Simply, this is blocking illegal content. It is not the same as China censoring sites the government approve of

    Since it's illegal for the Chinese to see the sites China blocks, what's the difference? In either case, the government is blocking sites it doesn't want you to see. To Quote Mr. Blues, "I hate Illinois Nazis" but I will defend their right to spew their obnoxious garbage in Germany as vehemently as I will defend the Chinese people's right to see crap their government doesn't want them to see.

    We block Nazi sites

    WE don't. My government doesn't. Your "we" is a bit too inclusive, and your post is a bit to parochial. For someone who agrees that it's OK to block Nazi sites while denying China's right to block certain cults' sites is a bit hypocritical.

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