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Dutch piracy group has begun appeal over web-block ruling
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 24 June 2014
Dutch internet service provider XS4ALL has confirmed to Torrentfreak that the country’s anti-piracy group BREIN has filed its appeal to the Netherlands Supreme Court over the web-blocking of The Pirate Bay in the country.
As previously reported, in 2012, on its second attempt, BREIN secured a web-block injunction against the infamous file-sharing website, ie a court order which told Dutch internet service providers, including XS4All, that they must block their users from accessing the Bay. But, whereas in the UK the net firms have generally accepted and complied with such injunctions, even if a little reluctantly, the Dutch ISPs appealed the web-block ruling, and in January succeeded in the High Court.
BREIN confirmed that it would take the matter to the country’s highest court in February, and, says XS4ALL, legal papers were actually filed in late April. The ISPs have until 5 Sep to respond. The anti-piracy group’s Supreme Court appeal doesn’t deal with new evidence or the original arguments for or against web-blocking, but rather focuses on procedural or legal interpretation failings that may or may not have occurred during the high court hearing.
XS4ALL told Torrentfreak: “The facts as determined by the [High] Court are fixed, the case will not be materially redone and the Supreme Court itself will not perform an investigation. [BREIN] cannot bring more new facts, nor contest the facts. Only the legal criteria which the court has applied will be questioned. If the appeal is successful and the judgement of the lower court is set aside, it may be sufficient to conclude the case. If a new examination of the facts is necessary, the Supreme Court will probably refer back the case to the [High] Court for a full retrial”.
January’s ruling resulted in existing web-blocks against The Pirate Bay being lifted in the Netherlands. As previously reported, web-blocking has become a preferred anti-piracy tool in various territories, and especially the UK, even though critics dispute the effectiveness of such blocks.