Torrent blow as doors to download portal ordered to be SHUT

[Len]

PIRATE Bay users are reeling after the world’s most popular torrent download portal was issued a shock blow.

The Pirate Bay and 1337x - two of the most popular torrent download sites around - look set to have its doors shut to thousands of people.

A Supreme Court has ruled that internet service providers must block their subscribers from accessing the major torrent sites.

The case involving torrent heavyweights The Pirate Bay and 1337x was filed by a group representing thousands of artists.

Musicians represented include major names such as Justin Bieber, The Beatles, One Direction, Michael Jackson and Queen, TorrentFreak reported.

The long-running anti-piracy case saw its first victory back in 2015 - before a number of twists and turns.

Then, ISPs in Austria were ordered by the Commercial Court to block The Pirate Bay and 1337x among other torrent portals.

However, a year later the Vienna Higher Regional Court overruled the decision - meaning ISPs were free to unblock previously blocked sites.

The case was then taken to the Supreme Court - and a year later the decision has now been published, with rights holders registering a victory.

The Court ruled that local ISPs must prevent subscribers from accessing The Pirate Bay, 1337x and other major torrent portals.

Internet Service Providers Austria (ISPA) criticised the decision and said it placed the onus on ISPs to decide what constitutes illegal content.

Their secretary general Maximilian Schubert said: “We do not support illegal content on the Internet in any way, but consider it extremely questionable that the decision on what is illegal and what is not falls to ISPs instead of a court.”

The news comes as the crackdown against online piracy continues across the globe.

Popular torrent websites like Kickass Torrents, ExtraTorrent and Torrentz.eu have all shut down this year as piracy penalties have become more severe.

The penalties for online piracy have become more severe this year thanks to the Digital Economy Act becoming law.

The new law raised the maximum possible sentence for online copyright infringement offences from two to 10 years.

The maximum sentence will only apply to people who commit serious copyright crimes, such as distributing content.

In the past week the crackdown against online piracy has seen a number of Kodi add-ons shut up shop.

Kodi software is not illegal, but developers can produce third-party add-ons that provide free access to pirated and illegal content. 

These apps allow users to stream premium content, like paid-for sports and movie channels for free.

The illegal add-ons are being targeted by ISP's, government agencies, broadcasters and rights holders.

This week Kodi add-on developer jsergio123 and UK-based add-on maker The_Alpha announced they were quitting.

The_Alpha had allegedly been sent a legal letter from the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.

The ACE is the world’s most powerful anti-piracy organisation, and members include Netflix, HBO, Sky, Disney and Warner Bros.

The letter claimed The_Alpha is involved in the popular Colossus add-on repository, which has now shut down.

The popular Ares Wizard, which was an all-in-one setup for Kodi that automates the installs of add-ons, also shut down this week.

Speaking to Express.co.uk recently, a FACT spokesperson said: “Recent comments from Judges have confirmed that both selling illicit streaming devices and using one to watch or stream copyrighted content are illegal.

“We feel it is important to focus efforts on educating consumers on the legality surrounding these devices and making them aware of the risk and harm they cause not only to industry and the economy, but potentially to themselves and their family.”

But they added: “Our priority for tackling online piracy is to target those most critical to the supply chain.

“Whether it’s a streaming website, an illicit streaming device seller or someone behind an infringing app or add-on, we focus on those who sell, host or distribute content illegally.

“Whilst end users are not a target, they could get swept up in one of our operations and become part of the whole criminal investigation, which could lead to prosecution alongside the suppliers, retailers and importers.”