Dutch ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL have been ordered to start blocking the Pirate Bay website within ten working days. A court in The Hague overturned a ruling from 2014, siding instead with the anti-piracy group Brein. The ruling is still preliminary; the High Court must give a final decision in the case.
The ISPs were subject to a similar blocking order in 2012-2014, before winning a court appeal. The case then went to the European Court of Justice for an opinion. In June, the EU court said sites such as the Pirate Bay could be considered a form of copyright infringement, justifying an ISP ban.
According to the latest court ruling in the Netherlands, the interests of Brein and the copyright holders it represents were not taken into account enough by the previous court decision in 2014. The previous court also looked only at whether the ISP ban had any impact on torrent traffic and should have looked more at reduced visitors to the Pirate Bay site. Its ruling ending the ISP ban had been argued in part on the fact that the blockade was ineffective.
Under the latest ruling, the ISPs must block four IP addresses and around a hundred domain names associated with the Pirate Bay, as well as any new sites that emerge to replace these. The ruling applies until the High Court takes a decision; this is not likely before next year.
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