As the bastion of online piracy, The Pirate Bay has become one of the most censored websites on the Internet in recent years.
Courts all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site and the list continues to expand.
The latest blocking order was issued right before the weekend in Austria. Following a complaint from copyright holders the Commercial Court of Vienna ordered local ISP A1 Telekom to block subscribers access to The Pirate Bay.
In addition to the notorious torrent site, the court order also requires the Internet provider to block three other “structurally infringing” sites; Isohunt.to, 1337x.to and h33t.to.
The court allows the ISP to choose how to implement the blockade on a technical level but it is likely to involve DNS-blocking, an IP-address blacklist or a combination of both.
If A1 Telekom chooses a DNS blockade then users can easily circumvent the measures by using a non-ISP DNS server. A combination of a DNS and IP-address block is generally more effective, but with the wide availability of proxy sites and VPN services that’s not airtight either.
Franz Medwenitsch, managing director of the Austrian music industry association IFPI, welcomes the court order and notes that they are happy to assist with the implementation of the blockades.
“For the further development of the online music market it is a very gratifying decision. We call on the Internet providers to work together towards a legally compliant and straightforward implementation of site-blocking,” Medwenitsch says.
The current court order follows hot on the heels of another major blocking case in Austria, which came to an end last month.
After a round of appeals the Supreme Court ordered several leading Austrian ISPs to block the major streaming sites Movie4K.to and Kinox.to. The Court further rules that the Internet providers will have to pay the costs for future blockades.
Given the recent successes, it wouldn’t be a surprise if more blocking requests will follow during the months to come.
