BT, Sky, Virgin Media forced to block Kickass Torrents and other sites

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Sign-Ban01.pngFollowing on from the mandatory blocking of The Pirate Bay, UK ISPs BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, O2 and EE will soon be forced to block websites Kickass Torrents (kat.ph), H33T and Fenopy.

Continuing the UK government’s clampdown on websites that facilitate the sharing of pirated media, High Court judge Mr Justice Arnold said the sites in question had profited from the unlawful distribution of games, music and movies “on an industrial scale”.

With none of the ISPs contesting the court order, it’s expected that the websites will very soon be inaccessible to customers subscribing to broadband packages from the above companies.

When The Pirate Bay was ordered to be blocked by ISPs, many ISPs demanded a court order be put in place before they’d do so, after refusing to make the sites inaccessible voluntarily. It seems that with a court order already in place here, the ISPs were not in a position to contest the ruling.

Those looking to continue to use the websites for legal means will have to either sign up for an alternative ISP, or look for one of the inevitable proxy websites that will spring up in the wake of the announcement.

Gerald Lynch
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