Irish ISPs Are Urged to Block Pirate Streaming Sites
https://sp-security.blogspot.com/2017/02/irish-isps-are-urged-to-block-pirate.html
The
entertainment industry is trying to force Irish ISPs to block 3 popular
streaming websites: movie4k.to, primewire.ag and onwatchseries.to. The
movie studios call them “massive copyright infringement hubs”, saying
that they offer thousands of infringing videos each.
It was in 2009 that The Pirate Bay was first banned in Ireland as part of a voluntary agreement between copyright holders and local ISP Eircom. The High Court in Ireland ordered other major Internet providers to follow Eircom several years later, ruling that The Pirate Bay had caused substantial harm to copyright owners.
Now more blockades are expected after the Motion Picture Association has filed a case at the court, asking it to force local ISPs to block access to 3 popular streaming portals. Watchseries is the most popular of them, accounting for almost 2,000,000 Irish visitors. Primewire is second in popularity, with its 1.26m visitors from Ireland, and Movie4k accounts for “just” 200,000 visitors.
The MPA’s blocking demands target 8 Irish Internet service providers, and it seems to be just a matter of time before the portals get blocked. In the meantime, according to reports, none of the service providers have raised principle objections against a court determination, suggesting that there are a few finer details left to work out – perhaps, regarding costs and the technical implementation of blockades.
However, the question will still remain whether any new blocks will be effective to limit the availability of unauthorized movies in the country. Movie4k.to, primewire.ag and onwatchseries.to are actually only three of many pirating platforms, and it is well known that Internet users can easily switch to new sources.
Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.
It was in 2009 that The Pirate Bay was first banned in Ireland as part of a voluntary agreement between copyright holders and local ISP Eircom. The High Court in Ireland ordered other major Internet providers to follow Eircom several years later, ruling that The Pirate Bay had caused substantial harm to copyright owners.
Now more blockades are expected after the Motion Picture Association has filed a case at the court, asking it to force local ISPs to block access to 3 popular streaming portals. Watchseries is the most popular of them, accounting for almost 2,000,000 Irish visitors. Primewire is second in popularity, with its 1.26m visitors from Ireland, and Movie4k accounts for “just” 200,000 visitors.
The MPA’s blocking demands target 8 Irish Internet service providers, and it seems to be just a matter of time before the portals get blocked. In the meantime, according to reports, none of the service providers have raised principle objections against a court determination, suggesting that there are a few finer details left to work out – perhaps, regarding costs and the technical implementation of blockades.
However, the question will still remain whether any new blocks will be effective to limit the availability of unauthorized movies in the country. Movie4k.to, primewire.ag and onwatchseries.to are actually only three of many pirating platforms, and it is well known that Internet users can easily switch to new sources.
Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.
