BT has been ordered to block pirate links in a landmark ruling after Hollywood film giants took the UK's biggest internet service provider to the High Court.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) was battling for an order which would force BT to cut off customers' access to a website accused of "flagrant" copyright infringement or file-sharing.
Members-only site Newzbin 2, which compiles a large amount of illegally copied material, will now be blocked for BT customers.
This is the first time an ISP has been ordered to block access to a pirate site.
The ruling is expected to pave the way for other file-sharing sites to be blocked and many are concerned that the move marks the beginning of web censorship.
“Forget the Digital Economy Act, clearly injunctions are the way to go.. the future of content appears to be censorship,” copyrightgirl wrote on Twitter.
“Judge orders BT to block pirate site. Next up Judge orders Southern electric to stop delivering electricity to criminals,” tweeted loudmouthman.
In his ruling, Justice Arnold stated: "In my judgment it follows that BT has actual knowledge of other persons using its service to infringe copyright: it knows that the users and operators of Newzbin2 infringe copyright on a large scale, and in particular infringe the copyrights of the studios in large numbers of their films and television programmes.
"It knows that the users of Newzbin 2 include BT subscribers, and it knows those users use its service to receive infringing copies of copyright works made available to them by Newzbin 2."
BT previously resisted such a ruling, claiming that that forcing it to ban its 6 million UK customers from accessing a particular website would herald a new wave of online censorship.
What do you think – Is it fair enough for creative industries to protect their products or should we be railing against any infringement of internet freedom?
