Dutch ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL have unblocked dozens of Pirate Bay proxies and mirrors. While the companies must block the torrent site itself, the latest court order supersedes the injunction which covered the site's proxies. Anti-piracy group BREIN characterizes the ISPs move as "shenanigans" and "downright silly."
The Pirate Bay is blocked in dozens of countries around the world. In most cases, ISPs are ordered to take action after a relatively short court proceeding.
In the Netherlands, however, the process took more than a decade, and it’s still not completely over yet.
ISPs Have to Block The Pirate Bay
A few weeks ago the Amsterdam Court ruled in favor of anti-piracy group BREIN, ordering local ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL to block The Pirate Bay. This order confirmed an earlier verdict, which made detours all the way to the European Court of Justice and the Dutch Supreme Court.
In recent years The Pirate Bay has been blocked by ISPs due to a preliminary injunction. This injunction also required the companies to add new domains along the way, including proxy and mirror sites. According to BREIN, the measures significantly reduced traffic to the popular pirate site.
With the victory at the Amsterdam Court in June, the blocking measures became final. That’s important, as it opens the door for blocking requests against other sites. However, BREIN didn’t get everything it wanted.
Proxies Are Not Mentioned in the Ruling
The court reinstated the original verdict from the lower court, which was issued in 2012. While that indeed requires the ISPs to block The Pirate Bay, it doesn’t mention any proxies and mirrors. BREIN requested these to be added, but the court viewed this as a separate matter.
In theory, this means that Ziggo and XS4ALL were free to unblock dozens of domains again and face another legal fight over the proxies. Initially, it wasn’t clear if that would happen, but we can now confirm that this is indeed the case.
ISPs Unblock Pirate Bay Proxies
In the weeks following the court’s judgment, the ISPs started to unblock dozens of Pirate Bay proxy domains. This is also apparent from XS4ALL’s blocking page, which shows that only thepiratebay.org remains inaccessible.
The ISPs are completely within their rights to unblock these domains. After all, the standing order doesn’t mention any proxies.
However, this also means that they will be back in court soon. In fact, BREIN has already taken action to have Pirate Bay proxies and mirrors blocked by launching a new proceeding.
We reached out to Ziggo and XS4All to ask why they chose to lift the blocks, but the companies refrained from commenting while the new legal proceeding is underway.
Shenanigans
BREIN director Tim Kuik, meanwhile, characterizes the ISPs’ decision to unblock the sites as “shenanigans” and “downright silly.” A decision that he believes will only cost the companies more money.
The court previously ordered other Dutch ISPs to block proxy sites as well and BREIN believes that it will obtain a similar order against Ziggo and XS4ALL in the near future.
“It is clear effective blocking must include proxies and mirrors, the appeal court said so, and the refusal of Ziggo and KPN/XS4ALL to conform to the standing order against the other ISPs is downright silly,” Kuik tells TorrentFreak.
“We are getting a separate order now and are claiming full costs because of these shenanigans that cause harm to injured right holders,” he adds.
