Earlier this year, several major Hollywood studios including Disney, Universal Studios and Warner Bros, teamed up with Swedish movie outfits to expand the local Pirate Bay blockade.
After obtaining a blocking order against local Internet provider Bredbandsbolaget, the film companies wanted Telia, Sweden’s largest ISP, to follow suit.
Last week the film companies booked a major victory when the Swedish Patent and Market Court ordered Telia to block access to The Pirate Bay, Dreamfilm, Nyafilmer, and Fmovies.
The interim decision requires the ISP to start blocking the sites at the end of the month and is valid until the case is finalized. Telia is not happy with the decision, however, and today announced an appeal.
Telia’s spokesperson Irene Krohn tells Computer Sweden that the company doesn’t agree with the Court’s assessment.
The Patent and Market Court ruled that proportional site-blocking injunctions are warranted under EU law, noting that the Swedish Copyright Act should be interpreted in the same manner.
Telia clearly disagrees and intends to make its position clear during the appeal.
“We appeal because it’s a principally important question for us and the Internet. We interpret the law differently than the court, and it is something that we will continue to make clear during the court process,” she says.
Previously, fellow ISP Bredbandsbolaget also appealed a similar blocking order, but without the desired result.
Whatever the outcome, the interim decision stands which means that Telia’s subscribers will at least be barred from accessing The Pirate Bay and the other sites for the time being.
