UK ISP Internet Piracy Website Blocks Expand to Proxy Server Link Sites

The practice of using the courts to force broadband ISPs into blocking websites that facilitate copyright infringement (piracy), which in recent years has appeared to descend into an endless game of Whack a Mole, has been expanded to include sites that merely link to a list of proxy servers for piracy sites.

It’s been several years since Rights Holders first succeeded in using Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to force all of the United Kingdom’s major broadband ISPs (e.g. BT, Sky Broadband, Virgin Media and TalkTalk etc.) into blocking access to The Pirate Bay (TBP), and many similar sites since then (here).

The original Blocking Injunction, which was issued by London’s High Court during early 2012, required the ISPs to censor access to “www.thepirate***.se its domain and sub-domains and any other IP address or url whose sole or predominant purpose is to enable or facilitate access to The Pirate Bay website“, which naturally included any mirrors or dedicated proxy servers for TBP.

One problem with this approach is that thousands of new proxy servers for TBP, and other similarly censored sites, are constantly being created and moved around, which have proven to be a nightmare to tackle. But now TorrentFreak notes that Rights Holders, in an effort to make it as difficult as possible for people to access such content, are also going after websites that merely link to a list of related proxy servers (indexes).

A Spokesperson for the BPI (Music Industry) said:

“Under BPI’s existing blocking Orders relating to 63 illegal websites, ISPs are required to block the illegal sites themselves, and proxies and proxy aggregators whose sole or predominant purpose is to give access to the illegal sites.”

Strictly speaking the approach now being taken, as stated by the BPI above, is nothing new. However it is perhaps starting to stretch the original ruling. At this point all of the proxy linking sites that have been blocked appear to focus on linking to sites that predominantly do facilitate piracy.

But it’s a very thin line between this and potentially extending such rules to less specific sites and or news articles that may include such links for example purposes, such as in the case of several past BBC articles. So far that hasn’t happened, but mission creep requires an ever vigilant eye.