UK ISPs forced to block over 100 piracy related sites

A new High Court order handed down in the UK has forced ISPs to block over 100 piracy related websites.

The three major labels, who are represented by BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) and the UK’s collecting society PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) are behind the blockade on 17 MP3 download sites. The number of sites on the UK blocklist is now 110, with the majority offering MP3 download capabilities.

According to Torrentfreak, who obtained the list via an unnamed ISP, Kim Dotcom’s cloud hosting service Mega.co.nz has been included in the blocking round.

The order handed down to six UK ISPs is the latest effort from the High Court, which in 2012 ordered a ban on websites including the now-banned Pirate Bay (which has side-stepped the order by hosting its content on CloudFlare). 

The news precedes Australia’s new Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill. The Communications Alliance’s draft code for the new legislation, released last month, proposes a Graduated Response (three-strikes) Scheme using codes imposed in the US, UK and New Zealand as a basis and heralding ISP-level blocking of "overseas pirate sites". The code has been submitted for registration with industry regulator Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

:: Q&A: Professor Melissa de Zwart on the forthcoming anti-piracy code