[1]Home
  > [2]Anti-Piracy > [3]Site Blocking >

  The Dutch pirate site blocklist has expanded with two new targets,
  shadow libraries Anna's Archive and Library Genesis. The court order
  was obtained by local anti-piracy group BREIN, acting on behalf of
  major publishers. Interestingly, Z-Library isn't listed in the blocking
  order, despite explicit warnings previously issued by BREIN.

  stop Pirate site blocking is one of the entertainment industry’s
  favorite enforcement tools. In recent years, it’s become a common
  practice in many countries around the world.

  In the Netherlands, it took over a decade for the first order to be
  approved. After detours through the Supreme Court and the EU Court of
  Justice, the final order was issued in 2020, [4]targeting The Pirate
  Bay.

  With all the legal paperwork in order, the doors were open to more
  blocking requests, especially after rightsholders and local ISPs
  [5]signed a covenant to streamline the process. If a court orders one
  company to block pirate sites, by agreement the other ISPs will follow
  suit.

  After the initial Pirate Bay blockade, a follow-up order targeted
  [6]YTS, EZTV and other torrent sites in 2022. Last year, Lookmovie and
  Flixtor were singled out in yet another case, despite a challenge to
  the [7]‘dynamic’ nature of these orders, which allows new domains to be
  added continuously.

Blocking Shadow Libraries

  All blocking requests were submitted by local [8]anti-piracy group
  BREIN, which acts on behalf of rightsholders. These include the major
  Hollywood studios but BREIN’s purview is much broader. Last week, it
  obtained the latest blocking order, this time on behalf of the
  publishing industry.

  Issued by the Rotterdam District Court, the order requires a local
  Internet provider to block two well-known shadow libraries; “Anna’s
  Archive” and “Library Genesis” (LibGen).

  News of this new court order was shared by BREIN which notes that both
  sites were found to make copyright infringing works available on a
  large scale. At the time of writing, a published copy is not available
  but, based on the covenant, all large Internet providers are expected
  to implement the blockades.

  “These types of illegal shadow libraries are very harmful. The only
  ones who benefit are the anonymous owners of these illegal services.
  Authors and publishers see no return on their efforts and investments,”
  BREIN comments.

  “Copyright holders deserve an honest living. There are numerous legal
  ways to obtain ebooks. If desired, this can also be done very cheaply;
  through the library for example.”

Dynamic Order

  The Rotterdam court issued a so-called ‘dynamic’ blocking order,
  meaning that rightsholders can update the targeted domains and IP
  addresses if the sites switch to new ones in the future. This also
  applies to mirrors and increases the blockades’ effectiveness, as there
  is no need to return to court.

  Previously, Internet provider KPN challenged these ‘dynamic’ orders,
  suggesting that they are too broad. The court rejected this argument,
  however, noting that the process [9]hasn’t led to any major problems
  thus far.

  BREIN further reports that Google is voluntarily offering a helping
  hand. As [10]reported in detail previously, the search engine removes
  blocked domains from its local search results after being notified
  about an ISP blocking order.

  “The effectiveness of the blocking measure is increased because Google
  cooperates in combating these infringements and, at the request of
  BREIN, completely removes all references to websites that are blocked
  by order of the Dutch court from the search results,” BREIN writes.

Elephant in the Room

  The blockade of the two shadow libraries is a key victory for BREIN;
  Anna’s Archive and LibGen are the largest sites of their kind along
  with a similar platform, Z-Library. Interestingly, however, the latter
  is not part of this blocking order.

  Z-Library is the target of an [11]ongoing criminal investigation by the
  U.S. Government, an enforcement effort in which BREIN also [12]played a
  role. It is not clear why the site isn’t part of the blocking request,
  however.

  This ‘omission’ is notable considering the anti-piracy group’s earlier
  stance. After Z-Library’s initial shutdown, [13]BREIN explicitly warned
  that it would obtain a court order to block Z-Library if it came back
  online.

  Instead of going after Z-Library, BREIN’s latest blocking request
  targets two other shadow libraries. BREIN must have its reasons not to
  include Z-Library in this legal effort but the group didn’t immediately
  respond to our request for clarification.

References

  1. https://torrentfreak.com/
  2. https://torrentfreak.com/category/anti-piracy/
  3. https://torrentfreak.com/category/anti-piracy/site-blocking/
  4. https://torrentfreak.com/dutch-isps-must-block-pirate-bay-proxies-and-mirrors-again-court-rules-201015/
  5. https://torrentfreak.com/brein-signs-landmark-pirate-site-blocking-agreement-with-dutch-isps-211105/
  6. https://torrentfreak.com/dutch-pirate-site-blocklist-expand-with-rarbg-yts-eztv-220331/
  7. https://torrentfreak.com/isps-dynamic-injunction-fears-fail-to-prevent-lookmovie-flixtor-blocking-230601/
  8. https://stichtingbrein.nl/
  9. https://torrentfreak.com/isps-dynamic-injunction-fears-fail-to-prevent-lookmovie-flixtor-blocking-230601/
 10. https://torrentfreak.com/google-removes-pirate-bay-domains-from-search-results-citing-dutch-court-order-211130/
 11. https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-indicts-two-russians-for-running-the-z-library-piracy-ring221117/
 12. https://torrentfreak.com/brein-plans-to-have-z-library-blocked-by-isps-if-it-resurfaces-221126/
 13. https://torrentfreak.com/brein-plans-to-have-z-library-blocked-by-isps-if-it-resurfaces-221126/

You are viewing proxied material from 1436.ninja. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.