MPA Reveals Scale of Worldwide Pirate Site Blocking

[Ernesto]

Few people following the controversial topic of Internet piracy will be unaware of the site-blocking phenomenon. It’s now one of the main weapons in the entertainment industries’ arsenal and it’s affecting dozens of countries.

While general figures can be culled from the hundreds of news reports covering the issue, the manner in which blocking is handled in several regions means that updates aren’t always provided. New sites are regularly added to blocklists without fanfare, meaning that the public is kept largely in the dark.

Now, however, a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) by Motion Picture Association Canada provides a more detailed overview. It was presented in support of the proposed blocking regime in Canada, so while the key figures are no doubt accurate, some of the supporting rhetoric should be viewed in context.

“Over the last decade, at least 42 countries have either adopted and implemented, or are legally obligated to adopt and implement, measures to ensure that ISPs take steps to disable access to copyright infringing websites, including throughout the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Korea,” the submission reads.

The 42 blocking-capable countries referenced by the Hollywood group include the members of the European Union plus the following: Argentina, Australia, Iceland, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.

While all countries have their own unique sets of legislation, countries within the EU are covered by the requirements of Article 8.3 of the INFOSEC Directive which provides that; “Member States shall ensure that rightholders are in a position to apply for an injunction against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe a copyright or related right.”

That doesn’t mean that all countries are actively blocking, however. While Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have the legal basis to block infringing sites, none have yet done so.

In a significant number of other EU countries, however, blocking activity is prolific.

“To date, in at least 17 European countries, over 1,800 infringing sites and over 5,300 domains utilized by such sites have been blocked, including in the following four countries where the positive impact of site-blocking over time has been demonstrated,” MPA Canada notes.

Major blocking nations in the EU

At this point, it’s worth pointing out that authority to block sites is currently being obtained in two key ways, either through the courts or via an administrative process.

In the examples above, the UK and Denmark are dealt with via the former, with Italy and Portugal handled via the latter. At least as far as the volume of sites is concerned, court processes – which can be expensive – tend to yield lower site blocking levels than those carried out through an administrative process. Indeed, the MPAA has praised Portugal’s super-streamlined efforts as something to aspire to.

Outside Europe, the same two processes are also in use. For example, Australia, Argentina, and Singapore utilize the judicial route while South Korea, Mexico, Malaysia and Indonesia have opted for administrative remedies.

“Across 10 of these countries, over 1,100 infringing sites and over 1,500 domains utilized by such sites have been blocked,” MPA Canada reveals.

To date, South Korea has blocked 460 sites and 547 domains, while Australia has blocked 91 sites and 355 domains. In the case of the latter, “research has confirmed the increasingly positive impact that site-blocking has, as a greater number of sites are blocked over time,” the Hollywood group notes.

Although by no means comprehensive, MPA Canada lists the following “Notorious Sites” as subject to blocking in multiple countries via both judicial and administrative means. Most will be familiar, with the truly notorious The Pirate Bay heading the pile. Several no longer exist in their original form but in many cases, clones are blocked as if they still represent the original target.

The methods used to block the sites vary from country to country, dependent on what courts deem fit and in consideration of ISPs’ technical capabilities. Three main tools are in use including DNS blocking, IP address blocking, and URL blocking, which can also include Deep Packet Inspection.

The MPA submission (pdf) is strongly in favor of adding Canada to the list of site-blocking countries detailed above. The Hollywood group believes that the measures are both effective and proportionate, citing reduced usage of blocked sites, reduced traffic to pirate sites in general, and increased visits to legitimate platforms.

“There is every reason to believe that the website blocking measures [presented to the CRTC] will lead to the same beneficial results in Canada,” MPA Canada states.

While plenty of content creators and distributors are in favor of proposals, all signs suggest they will have a battle on their hands, with even some ISPs coming out in opposition.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.



Originally Published: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 16:33:05 +0000
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[Sid]

= useful information to anyone marketing VPN services to the citizens of countries whose governments are hell bent on teaching their citizens that unjust laws can and should be ignored.

[dueda]

Quote from Lost: Ben Linus ─ He changed the rules!

They are changing the rules, everywhere.

While third-world countries offer more leeway, for it brings in money from businesses which couldn't bloom in strict countries, poor and chaotic governments are easier targets to politic and economic pressure, or just bribery.

The only advantage poor countries have is the cost of digital products: They can't make media/software much less compete with the big corporations, most are imported, so piracy means saving.

For how long this situation will stay, how it will develop, what we can do about it, is to be seen.

[Mr.Masami]

They should give up war against pirates, just like they retreated from the Vietnam.
This is our jungle, they will never beat us on our land.

We don't even need the Internet. But it's more convenient that way.

[politux]

The great irony is that all this copyright enforcement activity comes from Hollywood and the US but the US doesn't block any of the sites. What exactly is wrong with the governments in the EU and other places? Apparently they like to roll over and do whatever the US corporations tell them to but fail to realize the rules only affect their citizens and not the Americans. It's madness.

[dueda]

They should give up war against pirates, just like they retreated from the Vietnam.
This is our jungle, they will never beat us on our land.

We don't even need the Internet. But it's more convenient that way.

What for, and why in the clumsy way they did enter the VN war, I can't figure. The same applies to piracy, but it is not our jungle.
They control the electronic communication systems. They insert exploits in the hardware and software.

In time, I suppose, my TV will phone home detailed info about me and my viewing habits. The darn thing may even freeride on my WiFi without me knowing.

The great irony is that all this copyright enforcement activity comes from Hollywood and the US but the US doesn't block any of the sites.  What exactly is wrong with the governments in the EU and other places?  Apparently they like to roll over and do whatever the US corporations tell them to but fail to realize the rules only affect their citizens and not the Americans. It's madness.

Indeed, very Holly-weird.

Maybe the USA citizens are too sensitive about liberty; maybe the © suits think it is easier to uphold their control on the rest of the world first, then the people will buy the hook "Hey, look, everybody complies, just us americans are the immoral thieves..." and bla bla legalese.

Or maybe they want to kill the liberalities on other countries first (like it looks to be the case in Sweden), then close the deal on America. Since pirates move to places where their lawyers can't touch, they decided to "standardize" the © matter. It's globalization in it's best shape.

Of course we can sell and trade DVD's by hand on dark alleys or by mail; we can take on the old healthy pizza-video-sharing-poker nights with friends.
It will just become slower and will reduce the laziness of most garden variety pirates.

[politux]

Or we just use vpn's or seedboxes. These "blocks" are comically easy to circumvent. And nothing ever stops piracy. If the people don't support a law you can't enforce it. It's similar to drug prohibition.

[dueda]

I agree it is nearly impossible to impose compliance, but technology changes things. Prohibition relies on material things and even that can be detected / tracked.
Digital infoways, on the other hand, are like air traffic: They can be easily controlled if authority really wishes to.
You can fly a small private plane under the radar, but yet, you gotta park and fuel it at some point. You can build or steal one, but that also can eventually be found.

[Mr.Masami]

The only thing we need is decentralized access to the web.
The tech is already here but we lack awareness of it and in order for it to function it must be understood and adopted by the masses.

[politux]

Torrents work just fine as is.