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UK High Court Orders Block On Popcorn Time

Posted by samzenpus on from the no-mocie-for-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Five ISPs have been given orders by the UK High Court to restrict access to sites offering downloads of popular movie streaming service Popcorn Time – a move which follows complaints from the Motion Picture Association referring to the software's use as a platform for viewing pirated content. According to the new regulation, Virgin, BT, Sky, EE and TalkTalk are now required to block access to popcorntime.io, flixtor.me, popcorntime.se and isoplex.isohunt.to – all sites which link to Popcorn Time downloads. In the High Court order, Justice Birss cites under Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, that the 'Popcorn Time application is used in order to watch pirated content on the internet.' Popcorn Time operates as a BitTorrent client, despite its slick user interface, and is used mainly for illegal content – although, as its supporters argue, it is also a handy tool for streaming public domain films. It is unclear how successful the ban will be – the blocked sites are not the only places to find Popcorn Time online. Additionally, at ISP level, it will be challenging to monitor as there is not a single version or developer to seek out, with the code available as open source.

4 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. When are these idiots going to learn? by popo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Internet is a big place. Restricting access to a few sites is effectively useless.

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:When are these idiots going to learn? by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "the space between the ears of media executives, their lawyers, and the judges and lawmakers in their pockets is bigger.. even more vast than the empiness of space itself."

      So their heads are like the Tardis....this explains a lot. Too bad it wasn't filled with intelligence instead of being a vast desert.

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
  2. Anybody remember? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Back when the IWF came around, "this is the only thing we'll ever block, honest". Then it was porn in general, for everybody. Then it was torrent sites. Oh, and the anarchist's handbook got targeted too. Now this. What's next?

    The UK is building their own digital Hadrian's wall at the behest of several special interest groups. How long before the "pro-EU" lobby becomes a big enough interest group to suppress "eurosceptic" views? Signs are, closer than you think.

  3. Where's the source code? by TheManInTheMoon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I, like many others, had not heard of Popcorn Time before it was so successfully advertised by the British Legal system. I now wonder where the source code is hosted, and under which open source licence.