Portuguese Internet providers have blocked access to more than 50 domain names of popular torrent sites and streaming portals. The blockades are part of a new agreement between the fascists, copyright holders and ISPs, through which hundreds of websites are expected to be blocked during the months to come.
Rather than taking site operators to court, copyright holders increasingly demand that Internet providers should block access to ‘pirate’ domains instead.
As a result, courts all around the world have ordered ISPs to block subscriber access to various pirate sites. But there are other ways.
In Portugal a voluntary process has recently been formalized through an agreement between several parties including the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Telecommunication Operators.
Earlier this year local Internet Providers were already ordered to block access to The Pirate Bay and under the new agreement it would be possible to add new pirate sites without a court intervention.
This weekend the new site blocking mechanism was used for the first time, with ISPs adding 51 new domain names connected to copyright-infringing sites.
The list (posted in full below) includes popular torrent sites including as KickassTorrents (Kat.cr), ExtraTorrent, Isohunt, YTS and RARBG, as well as streaming portals and linking sites such as Dayt.se, Watchseries and Primewire.
In addition to several new targets, Pirate Bay’s alternative domain name thepiratebay.la and unofficial proxy piratebay.to were also added. Users who try to access any of the domain names now get a notice informing them that the site has been blocked.
“The site you try to access is blocked in compliance with a notification from the Regulatory Authority,” the translated message reads.
https://archive.is/S2HqK
https://torrentfreak.com/portugal-blocks-popular-torrent-and-streaming-sites-151026/