Newzbin2 Judgement: Day One of state censorship of the Internet in the UK.

The Pirate Party expresses serious concern at the judgement handed down today in the so-called "Newzbin2" case (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp & Ors v British Telecommunications Plc). Major film studios have successfully been granted an injunction against British Telecom, forcing BT to block internet users from accessing the Newzbin2 file-sharing site. This is the first case where a UK ISP has been ordered to restrict their service in some way to prevent users from accessing a third party, external service.

"This is terrible day for ordinary British Internet users. This is the thin end of a very large wedge - the United Kingdom now officially has state sanctioned censorship of the Internet. This leaves the coalition's Internet policy in disarray, apparently our digital rights are to be determined by Hollywood."

- Loz Kaye, Pirate Party UK Leader

This judgement has opened up the possibility for a flood of similar claims and may be used to force ISPs into accepting a voluntary agreement to block any websites that are alleged to be involved in copyright infringement.

At a time when other courts and Parliaments (including the English Court of Appeal) are highlighting the importance of access to the Internet, it is worrying to see the High Court dismiss all concerns in this area by finding that the "human rights" of film studios to enforce their copyrights "clearly outweighs" any right to freedom of expression.

Despite the exaggerated claims by the MPAA that such sites threaten future film production, no assessment was made of how much, if any, actual damage was done by Newzbin. Also, web site blocking remains an ineffective way of actually stopping people finding content. The judgement acknowledges this stating: "finally, I agree with the counsel for the studios that the order would be justified even if it only prevented access to Newzbin2 by a minority of users".

"No doubt countries like China and Libya will be pleased to have the UK joining the ranks of countries that censor the Internet. "Cleanfeed" started with guarantees that it was to be used only to filter child abuse images. Now it's to be used to filter any site that Hollywood doesn't like. What's next? Politically sensitive sites, criticising the government?"

- Loz Kaye, Pirate Party UK Leader

As in previous cases, the ruling reflects an assumption within the copyright lobby that any infringement of copyright is wrong and must be stopped at all costs, without considering the collateral damage done to freedom of speech, or the interests of the general public.