Dutch to go after ISPs that allow file sharing
Reuters
Jan 30, 2012
By Tjibbe Hoekstra
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands plans to crack down on Internet service providers that allow access to file-sharing sites such as Pirate Bay, though it will not make it an offence for individuals to download from these sites.
Wiebe Alkema, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, told Reuters the law would be amended to reflect a recent court ruling, but would not criminalize the downloaders, as is the case in most European countries.
A Dutch court earlier this month ordered ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL to block access to Pirate Bay by February 1 because it allows copyright infringement of music and film content.
"We aim to strike a just balance between protecting against infringements of copyright and the importance of a free and open Internet," he said, adding that the proposal, to be submitted to parliament before summer, will state that websites that facilitate copyright infringements are acting against the law.
Both Ziggo, owned by private equity groups Cinven and Warburg Pincus, and XS4ALL, owned by telecoms firm KPN, risk a penalty of 10,000 euros a day, up to a maximum of 250,000 euros, if they do not obey the court order.
The penalty is payable to Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, which represents major entertainment companies and which brought the case against XS4ALL and Ziggo. BREIN has asked other providers including UPC, KPN and T-Mobile to block access to Pirate Bay, and they could eventually face court action too.
Ziggo, UPC, KPN, XS4ALL and T-Mobile together have more than 85 percent of the market, Dutch research firm Telecompaper said. UPC is owned by Liberty Global Inc., while Deutsche Telekom AG operates under the T-Mobile brand.
Ziggo said it would block the Pirate Bay website by Tuesday, but will appeal against the decision.
"Ziggo thinks that an access provider should not be forced into the role of police cop. Besides this, the verdict opens the door to further undesirable developments threatening internet freedom," the company said on its website.
Other jurisdictions are also clamping down. The United States is seeking the extradition of Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload.com, from New Zealand, saying that he was the ringleader of a group that netted $175 million since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorization.
Dutch consultancy Considerati said in a report that about 40 percent of Dutch internet users regularly download unlicensed content, compared with a European average of 27 percent, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).