The Motion Picture Association has applied for a high court injunction that would force internet provider BT to block public access to a file-sharing hub.
The outcome of this trial, which is a UK legal first, could set an alarming precedent. If the high court rules in favour of the MPA it could allow the entertainment industry to strong-arm BT and other broadband providers into censoring the internet.
The website in question is the British site Newzbin, an infamous black-market website that provides curated links to pirated movies, music and software on the Usenet discussion forums.
The site has had a tumultuous history with the law and the MPA. Its owner, Chris Elsworth, was found guilty of deliberately indexing copyrighted content in 2010. Newzbin then went into administration and the website and domain names were sold.
The site reappeared -- under new ownership and with fresh servers offshore from the Seychelles -- later that year.
Now the MPA has seemingly decided that if it can't take it offline, it can block people from accessing it. The industry body -- which represents studios like Sony, Fox, Warner and Paramount -- has targeted BT because of its dominating customer base and website-blocking technology.
BT has been using software called Cleanfeed since 2004 to automatically bar access to child abuse and pornography websites. Other ISPs license the technology or use similar systems -- and are instructed by the government to do so. The MPA wants BT to use Cleanfeed to cut access to Newzbin.
In a statement to BBC News, European president of the MPA, Chris Marcich, said, "Newzbin has no regard for UK law and it is unacceptable that it continues to infringe copyright on a massive and commercial scale. We have explored every route to get Newzbin to take down the infringing material and are left with no option but to challenge this in the courts."
BT has issued a statement to The Telegraph, stating, ""We can confirm that we will be appearing in court, following an application for an injunction by members of the MPA."
In 2010, Torrentfreak conducted an interview with "Mr White", who is allegedly the anonymous new owner of Newzbin. When asked what he would do if the MPA took new interest in the site, White said, "We'll just do a Pirate Bay on them. We can run faster than them and shapeshift."
The trial will be held at the High Court on 28 June 2011.
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