UK Judge hands American big copyright a blank cheque to filter the internet

As you may recall, back in July, a UK judge ordered BT to block newzbin at the request of the big copyright lobby in the states. This has now been given a date - BT have 14 days to enact this requirement.

The interesting (And by interesting I mean utterly ridiculous) part is that the ruling states that BT must also block "any other IP address or URL whose sole or predominant purpose is to enable or facilitate access to the Newzbin[2] website". What this means is that the companies that brought this suit can simply decide they don't like a website, and tell BT to block it.

Now, I know what your thinking. Your thinking that this only applies to newzbin, right? Wrong, it also applies to "any other IP address or URL whose sole or predominant purpose is to enable or facilitate access to the Newzbin website". So sure, that sounds straightforward. But what if a site has a newsbinz search engine? What if it links to a few choice downloads? What if it just links to newsbinz homepage? What if it just links to copyright material full stop? It will take time, but we will see this ruling allow the yank copyright lobby exert a tighter and tighter grip on our internet connections.

I can't even attempt to convey my feelings on this, that someone could have this little understanding or respect for our freedom, is beyond words. All I will say is, it is my fervent hope, as society starts to wake up to the realisation that it is now a possession of the government and big corporations, that this judge will realise the part his ignorance played in the downfall. Frankly, I hope the guilt kills him.

MPA trying to block Newzbins

According to the BBC, the MPA are seeking an injunction to force BT to block access to newzbins, using the same cleanfeed system currently used to block child porn.


Now, lets forget for a moment that this is a HUGE burden on BT (If you think this won't cause them to loose customers to unrestricted providers you are frankly an idiot)
The most important factor here is that they are asking our government to block a site that has not been declared illegal. That's right, there is no law that says that this site cannot be viewed or used in the UK. Yes, the site leave themselves open to civil law suits, but that's absolutely not the same thing. Yet they are seeking to make it impossible to view because they don't like it.


Think about that for a moment. Private entities (American ones at that) dictating what you may view based on whether they like it or not? Am I the only one who finds that incredibly scary?


Also, why are we allowing american interests to request injunctions through our legal system? Shouldn't our civil legal system be reserved for legitimate UK companies? I can understand trying criminal cases for foreign interests in some circumstances, but not civil issues.


Now what about BT? Whilst its true that the cleanfeed is also used by some other ISPs, there are those that have there own system. The upshot of this is that BT would be forced through no fault of their own to block a service that others will still offer, and people will leave them for those other providers. Yes, I'm sure if this does go through, that the other ISPs will be forced to match the block on their own systems eventually, but that will still take time, which will cost one of our bedrock companies customers and money. People will say its won't be many, or that they are big enough to take it, but that is not the point.


Amusingly, the MPA Euro president was quoted as saying "Newzbin has no regard for UK law" - Do you think that might be because when it was a UK owned operation, you sued it into administration, after which it has been bought by an outfit in the Seychelles? Funnily enough, I doubt they do care about UK law over there in Africa. But this brings up a very important point. The site is in Africa, it is not a UK site. Why are our legislators even looking at this? It is a matter for the African government to deal with (And no, I don't imagine they care, but I'm not feeling all that much sympathy for the MPA right now) and nothing whatsoever to do with the UK, other than it having UK users. This is an attempt at censorship of our internet. I cannot begin to describe how bad that is, please stop and think about that for a moment.


The day that one of our largest companies is damaged by the interests of a foreign private entity is an exceedingly black day indeed. The day that an America entity manages to censor a site from the public for their own ends is unimaginable.