Film cartel wants BT access to filesharing blocked

Film cartel wants BT access to filesharing blocked

Postby ntscuser » Fri Dec 17, 2010 12:04 pm

LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE

THE US FILM MAFIAA, otherwise known at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has put down its popcorn and fired some legal briefs in the direction of British Telecom (BT).

The European arm of the MPAA has filed for an injunction against the UK telecoms provider as it seeks to block access to a website that links users to the filesharing of movies and television shows.

This might sound like something that the Internet performs on its own, but that hasn't stopped the MPAA from considering how best to stop its content from ever being seen by anyone who doesn't pay the full box office price for the privilege. Or at least buy or rent the overpriced DVD.

The MPAA is using part 97A of the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to try to force BT into blocking Newzbin2, which is an offshore link sharing but not content sharing website.

It is apparently not the first time that the MPAA has acted in this way, as it already has an injunction against a company called Newzbin, which went into liquidation just before the launch of the rather similarly named new target of the MPAA's wrath.

Announcing the action in a statement, Chris Marcich, president and managing director for the MPAA in Europe said, "The continued operation of Newzbin2 flies in the face of the previous judgment by the High Court and therefore we feel it is necessary to invoke 97A to seek the co-operation of the Internet Service Provider, in this case BT, through a court order to stop the infringing activity via their services."

Newzbin2 is not only snatching food away from the mouths of Hollywood moguls' babies, but it's also ruining the livelihoods of smaller, independent media producers, added John McVay, the CEO of PACT, the producers' alliance for cinema and television.

"PACT supports today's announcement", he said. "It is a shame that a legal action has to be taken, but illegal websites such as Newzbin2 pose a grave threat to our membership who do not have the resources to combat online copyright infringement."

The MPAA and friends are calling for cooperation from BT and others in the fight against alleged copyright infringement, but they appear to be only too happy to unleash their lawyers, too.

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