In the first case of it’s kind in the UK, BT has been ordered to block access to the popular link sharing site Newzbin2.  The website is a reincarnation of the previously shut down website Newzbin which was ordered to shut-down previously.  Newzbin2 was set up out of jurisdiction out of the UK courts after the demise of Newzbin.

Arnold J. of the High Court of Justice had this to say:

“In my judgment it follows that BT has actual knowledge of other persons using its service to infringe copyright: it knows that the users and operators of Newzbin2 infringe copyright on a large scale, and in particular infringe the copyrights of the Studios in large numbers of their films and television programmes, it knows that the users of Newzbin2 include BT subscribers, and it knows those users use its service to receive infringing copies of copyright works made available to them by Newzbin2″

BT has said it will not fight the ruling and is due back in court in October to work out details of the blocking with the Motion Picture Association (MPA).  Some people fear that this is the first step on a slippery slope, it starts with linking sites today, but who knows where this will end?  There’s a fine line between protecting copyright and out of control censorship.