The British Phonographic Institute — UK equivalents to the RIAA — are demanding an expansion to the existing Internet censorship regime in Britain, which already blocks access to The Pirate Bay on a national level. Now they want three more sites — Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents — added to the blacklist.
The Pirate Bay may be blocked, but the Pirate Party UK proxy for it is one of the top 250 sites in the UK, and its popularity is climbing. I’d never heard of the three torrent sites named by the BPI before, but they sound interesting. For as long as I can remember, anything the BPI doesn’t want me to see has turned out to be awesome.
The BPI got a court order to block the Pirate Bay. But they’re looking to get ISPs to voluntarily censor these other sites. So far, the ISPs have told them that they’ll only participate in the national censorwall if a court tells them to.
From the BBC:
Jim Killock, a campaigner with the Open Rights Group, argued that consumers’ interests were not being properly represented.
“Web blocking is an extreme response,” he told the BBC.
“If courts are being asked to block websites they need to be taking into consideration the rights of users and any legitimate usage of those sites.
“It isn’t clear whether a conversation between a judge, ISPs and rights holders is going to sufficiently represent the needs of users.”
More piracy sites faced with blocking as BPI contacts UK ISPs
(via /.)