British Telecom (BT) has begun blocking access to Newzbin 2 – a members-only site which aggregates ‘illegally copied material’ commonly shared in Usenet discussion forums.
The landmark case against BT was brought by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) on behalf of its members – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, part of Walt Disney; Paramount Pictures; Sony Pictures Entertainment, part of Sony Corp; Twentieth Century Fox Film; Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBC Universal; and Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Time Warner.
BT is carrying out the blocks by tweaking software developed to stop users from finding websites showing images of child abuse, reported bbc.co.uk.
Others ISPs too are expected to taken to court to enforce further blocks on the site in coming months.
However, the group behind Newzbin 2 told the BBC that 93.5% of its active UK users have downloaded workaround software developed by them in September to bypass the block.
TorrentFreak reported that some users can still access the site, others report that they cannot and can see the ‘Error – site blocked’ message detailed above instead. Others report that Newzbin2 can only be accessed through their anti-censorship client or by typing the site’s IP address directly into their browser.
Newzbin team told the site that Newzbin2 shall go on; its users shall continue to access the site and its facilities and as the UK lackeys of the MPA roll over other NZB sites like nzbsrus and nzbmatrix they will realize that nothing has changed and they have no change after paying millions of dollars in legal fees.
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