Written pornography Internet censorship in the United Kingdom

the practice of file sharing constitutes breach of copyright, designs , patents act 1988 if performed without permission of copyright holder. courts in uk routinely issue injunctions restricting access file sharing information published on internet. british phonographic industry represents interests of british record companies , along british video association encourages uk governments regulate , legislate reduce copyright infringement. result, digital economy act passed in 2010. further legislation has been suggested, such 2014 proposal general law prevent search engines returning file-sharing websites search results.

digital economy act

the digital economy act 2010 internet-specific legislation regarding copyright in uk. progress on implementation of act slow, , in end, measures never passed parliament.

the act had proposed code drafted ofcom , implemented parliament, containing provisions restricting downloading of copyrighted material internet. under act, warning letters have been sent internet users suspected of downloading copyright-infringing material (provided isp has more 400,000 customers), , customer receiving 3 such letters in 1 year recorded service provider , have been subject civil claim copyright holder under copyright, designs , patents act 1988 (the copyright holder having first sought subscriber s identity using court order). after these provisions have been in force year, additional rules have been applied, requiring isps reduce download speed of repeat offenders , in cases disconnect internet supply. act allowed secretary of state order blocking of websites provided material infringed copyright, although section dropped following successful use of court orders block websites. commentators debate practicality of such controls , ability of uk government exact control

court-ordered blocks

it established procedure in uk rights-holders use section 97 court orders require isps block copyright-infringing sites. instance, court orders obtained bpi in october 2013 resulted in blocking of 21 file-sharing sites including filestube , torrentz. there private agreement in principle between leading isps , rights holders, made encouragement government, restrict access websites when presented court orders. court orders not made public , overblocking reported, such accidental blocking of radio times, crystal palace f.c., taylor swift , on 100 others websites in august 2013.

the practice originated result of court order applied against incidence of copyright infringement taken out motion picture association in december 2010 @ request of hollywood studios. association applied injunction block access newzbin2, site provided search service usenet content, indexing downloads of copyrighted content including movies , other material shared without permission. application lodged against bt, largest internet service provider in united kingdom around 6 million customers. required bt use cleanfeed block customers access site. in july 2011 high court of justice granted injunction , in october 2011 bt ordered block access website within fourteen days, first ruling of kind under uk copyright law. precedent set described open rights group dangerous . bt did not appeal against ruling , put required block in place on 2 november 2011. subsequent attempts access site bt ip address met message error - site blocked . newzbin released client software circumvent bt blocking, using encryption , tor network. newzbin claimed on 90% of active uk users had downloaded workaround software making bt block ineffective. however, further court orders resulted in sky blocking access newzbin in december 2011 , virgin media blocking access site in august 2012. on 28 november 2012 newzbin announced closure of indexing service.

meanwhile, in may 2012 high court ordered blocking of pirate bay uk isps prevent further copyright infringing movie , music downloads website. blocks said bypassed , spokesman pirate party said public interest in service following ban had boosted traffic party s website. in december 2012, british phonographic industry (bpi) threatened legal action against pirate party after party refused demands sent @ end of november remove proxy pirate bay.

in september 2013 ofcom survey revealed 2% of internet users responsible 74% of copyright-infringing downloads in uk, , 29% of downloads of content violates copyright.

in october 2014 first blocking order against trademark infringing consumer goods passed against major uk isps richemont, cartier international , montblanc block several domains.