A Danish court has ordered Tele2 to block its customers in Denmark from access to Russian music seller ALLOFMP3.
Despite the ruling applying only to the one ISP, the ruling is significant. Tele2 is an operator in most Western European countries, with the exceptions of Finland and the UK.
Ib Tholstrup, a spokesperson for the Danish telecommunications industry association, was quoted saying:
This is unknown territory for us, and it is the same as if the Post Offices should read all the letters they are handling. I deeply condemn this verdict.
I disagree with Tholstrup’s analogy. It does not appear that the court asked Tele2 to look at the music being downloaded. That would be analogous to the post office reading the mail. What the court said was more analogous to telling postal workers to look at the return address and not deliver letters marked as coming from a specific business.
Another report suggests that ISPs will now be asked to make judgement calls on whether content is illegal:
If upheld, it could open ISPs in Denmark to a flood of complaints from companies, industry groups, and individuals, asking the ISP to block access to material deemed offensive or illegal, even if no court has yet ruled on legality.
They are missing the point. A court did rule that the ISP should block the site. Period. The ISP was not asked to look at content and make a determination that it is illegal. The court made that decision for them. The ISP, Tele2, just needs to do it.
Your views are welcomed.