Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:18:00 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090429/0207004690.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090429/0207004690.shtml doesn't keep log files of its users, following the newly implemented Swedish law, IPRED, that requires ISPs to hand over log files if users are accused of copyright infringement online. It appears that the attention generated by that one ISP has now lead multiple Swedish ISPs to also promise to delete all user data, so that there would be nothing to turn over. As a representative from Tele2 noted: "It's a strong wish from our customers, so we decided not to store information on customers' IP numbers anymore." Between this and the new interest in encryption and VPN software in Sweden, you have to wonder why the entertainment industry was so excited about the IPRED law passing in the first place.

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]]> consumer-demand... http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090429/0207004690 Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:15:00 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090120/1919463467.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090120/1919463467.shtml block The Pirate Bay. This came after a similar ruling that forced Tele2 to block access to AllofMp3 (which, you'll recall was the big "threat" prior to The Pirate Bay). Of course, these blocks don't work particularly well, and seem incredibly annoying for those content creators who actually want their content distributed through systems like The Pirate Bay.

Tele2 appealed the ruling, and another court found that, indeed, ISPs should be forced to block access to The Pirate Bay. While that case is being appealed to the country's Supreme Court, it appears that other ISPs are being pressured to start blocking as well. Denmark's largest ISP, TDC, is now blocking access to The Pirate Bay.

Torrentfreak suggests that TDC is worried about a similar lawsuit, and did this as a preventative measure, but I have to wonder if some of the thinking is competitive. Last April, TDC announced a deal whereby its customers could download unlimited music... though it was really more of a subscription rental service that included DRM. So, basically, here's a way that TDC gets to block out a "competitor" to its own service, and then blame the legal rulings for being able to do so...

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]]> legal-excuses http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090120/1919463467 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:06:00 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081126/0909552961.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081126/0909552961.shtml ordered Tele2, a large ISP, to block all access to The Pirate Bay website. This followed an earlier ruling requiring Tele2 to block access to AllofMp3.com. It's never been clear why an ISP should take on the responsibility of blocking access to a site, and Tele2 appealed the ruling. Unfortunately, it looks as though the company has lost. The Danish High Court has apparently sided with the IFPI, and says that, indeed, Tele2 must block The Pirate Bay. Of course, this is unlikely to matter. Whenever these blocks are ordered, there are always ways around them, and the attention from the blocks tends to alert more people to the site's existence.

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]]> keep-on-blocking http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20081126/0909552961 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:31:00 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080211/031224223.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080211/031224223.shtml "significant blow" against an operation they accuse of piracy, it only seems to drive more attention to those sites. That appears to be happening once again. Since the IFPI convinced a Danish court to block users from accessing the Pirate Bay, traffic from Denmark to the Pirate Bay has actually increased, thanks mainly to the news coverage of the story. So, for such a significant blow, it appears that all the IFPI has succeeded in doing is providing free advertising for the Pirate Bay.

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]]> nice-publicity-stunt,-IFPI http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080211/031224223 Wed, 6 Feb 2008 22:02:28 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080206/165610190.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080206/165610190.shtml blocking access to the Pirate Bay. Last year, a court had also ordered Tele2 to block access to AllofMp3.com. Tele2 complied with that first order, though apparently it was quite easy to get around the block (no surprise there). However, apparently sensing the outrage being felt concerning these blocks, Tele2 is considering fighting back against the order (with support from other ISPs). The company claims that it needs "clarification" on the ruling, though doesn't seem to provide much more detail than that at this point.

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]]> fighting-it http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080206/165610190 Mon, 4 Feb 2008 22:59:00 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080204/213143171.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080204/213143171.shtml blocking access to the AllofMp3.com website. It seemed like a bizarre request, focused on just one ISP. While the ISP complied, apparently the block was quite easy to get around and the overall impact of the ban was minimal. However, that didn't stop the IFPI from talking up what an important move it was. Along those lines, the IFPI has now convinced a Danish judge to also tell Tele2 that it needs to block the Pirate Bay as well. Are they going to demand that Tele2 also blocks Google and Usenet? It's difficult to see the rationale behind this -- and even more difficult to understand why they think that this time such a block will actually be effective. Yet, of course, the IFPI will talk about what a significant move this is in their ongoing fight against new business models piracy.

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]]> if-at-first-you-don't-succeed... http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080204/213143171