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BT forced to block Newzbin2 within 14 days
A judge has ruled that BT must prevent customers from accessing filesharing website Newzbin2.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA), representing some of Hollywood's biggest film studios, won a High Court ruling on Wednesday (October 26th 2011) that means the UK's largest internet service provider (ISP) must block the site, which aggregates large amounts of pirated movies, videogames, music and software.
As a result of the move, which has been hailed as a major win for the creative industries, it is believed that similar rulings will be sought against other ISPs.
In addition to setting the two-week deadline for the implementation of the block, the judgement stated BT will have to cover the cost of any work needed to do so.
The telecoms giant had previously argued it should not have to foot the bill for protecting copyrights owned by other organisations.
Chris Marcich, managing director of the MPA, said the move will allow record labels, publishing houses, movie studios and TV production companies to spend more money on digital content.
"Securing the intervention of the ISPs was the only way to put the commercial pirates out of reach for the majority of consumers," Mr Marcich commented.
"This move means that we can invest more in our own digital offerings delivering higher quality and more variety of products to the consumer."
BT made little comment on the judgement, aside from saying it is "helpful" that more clarity has now been brought to the issue of website blocking.
The ruling came shortly after Ofcom gave an update on its plans to implement a 'three strikes' approach to its fight against suspected filesharers.
Speaking at a recent Westminster eForum, the regulator's director of internet policy Campbell Cowie revealed the first warning letters will be sent out to web pirates in summer 2013, TechRadar reported.