James Delahunty
28 Jun 2011 0:07
Motion Picture Association trying to force BT to block NZB site.
The trade group is going to court, applying for an injunction forcing BT to cut off access to Newzbin, a popular Usenet-indexing website. Newzbin hosts NZB files, which can be combined with a newsreader software to locate content on Usenet binary groups.
The MPA is targeting BT because it is the largest service provider in the UK, and it also supplies the "Cleanfeed" website-blocking system to other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country. The MPA is arguing that BT should block access to Newzbin the same way it blocks access to sites hosting child sex abuse images.
The MPA originally took action against Newzbin in the UK in 2010. Since then, Newzbin went into administration and sold its assets to new owners who launched a fresh version of the website.
"Newzbin has no regard for UK law and it is unacceptable that it continues to infringe copyright on a massive and commercial scale when it has been ordered to stop by the High Court," said Chris Marcich, European president of the MPA, in a statement. "We have explored every route to get Newzbin to take down the infringing material and are left with no option but to challenge this in the courts."