Following a landmark legal ruling that forces the United Kingdom’s largest ISP to block access to an illegal filesharing site, movie studios, record companies and other media publishers are banding together to push for British ISPs to block access to the Pirate Bay in an attempt to significantly cut down on piracy within the country.
British Telecom has received a formal request to block access to the site by a group of movie studios, record labels and publishers including the Motion Picture Association, Publishers Associations and British Phonographic Industry, with a representative for the latter, Geoff Taylor, calling the Pirate Bay “no more than a huge scam,” adding, “we cannot accept illegal rip-off sites on the internet.”
(MORE: ‘Pirate Bay’ Website Blocked by Comcast and Other Providers?)
The request comes after British Telecom was given two weeks to block the filesharing site Newzbin2 last week by the British High Court, with a ruling that accused the ISP of ignoring what it knew to be illegal activity by continuing to allow access to the site. John Smith, general secretary of the British Musicians’ Union said that the ruling “clarified the law,” and that now the way was clear to “keep up the pressure on these illegal sites.”
British Telecom has not responded to the request so far.
MORE: When It Comes to Illegal Downloads, Movies Trump Music
[via The Guardian and TechSpot]
Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.