ISP Forced to Block and Filter Pirated Content on P2P Networks

[Amplify]

by Ernesto

A court in Belgium ruled that ISPs can be forced, and are obliged to, either block or filter copyright infringing content on P2P networks. Freedom of expression and privacy are not important in this regard. How exactly ISPs are supposed to block and filter copyrighted content remains a mystery.

It is not clear what methods the ISP (Scarlet) has to implement, but distinguishing copyright infringing and legal content on P2P networks such as BitTorrent is likely to be a tough job, if not, impossible.

The judge thought otherwise (pdf) and, based on claims from a P2P expert, said that ISPs do have the technical means at their disposal to block or filter pirated content on P2P networks. The ISP in question was given six months to implement such measures.

In a response to this news Rick Falkvinge, the leader and founder of the Swedish Pirate Party, told TorrentFreak:

“this confirms what we’ve been saying all along: the record industry wants to abolish postal secrets and freedom of the press in order to maintain their crumbling monopolies. They are actually celebrating the fact that a third unaccountable party gets to inspect everything sent between any and all private individuals, and gets to destroy any undesired communication.”

The ruling by the Belgian court implements EU legislation, and iaccording to the IFPI, it sets an important precedent in the fight against piracy internationally. In a response to the decision IFPI Chairman and CEO John Kennedy said: “This is a decision that we hope will set the mould for government policy and for courts in other countries in Europe and around the world.”

Let’s hope not. And, can anyone explain to me how ISPs are supposed to filter copyright infringing content?

Torrent Freak Source

[myidisbb]

difference in usa and europe. they like to use isp to do the work instead of the individual.

[Ambrocious]

If computers and the internet were more like everyday real life events, then everyone would be more responsible for what they did on the Internet. If I walked up to you and I punched you in the face, I assume that you would begin to kick my ass. If I download a pirated program and use a keygen, that would be comparible to me going up to an ATM and getting free cash. I do agree that piracy is not a problem for me exactly and I reap the benifits but Im just saying that some day in the future, maybe the internet WILL be more like real life. If you try and download a program, you MUST use a proxy which is like having a trench coat. If you install the program and use a keygen then that is sort of like making sure the cameras dont see you. If you remove those things in the product that make the alarms go off, that would be like blocking the program from validating.

But the only thing is, we can do all this now, and quite frankly, I feel much more safer doing it on the internet, dont you? So this is my point; maybe one day the Internet WILL be more like real life and when this happens, perhaps piracy will drop down low. Just think, in 20 years I assume that our homes will have most everything running off of a computer. Our lives will almost be prone to be "watched" or "monitored". The more control that your residing government has, if they so choose to, even if they force Bill Gates and everyone else to create software that is more flexible, our Internet experiance will be different...much different. I can forsee a uprising in the next 20 to 25 years from now on exact and new laws to be made on the Internet, it won't be shrugged off forever because all to soon it will be pretty much involved in every aspect in our life. And when it is invloved THAT much, dramatic changes will persue.