ISP ordered by U.K. court to block access to possible piracy site

By Mike Flacy July 28, 2011

Illegal Downloading — Image used with permission by copyright holder

For the first time in the United Kingdom, a British court has ordered an ISP to block a specific website due to concerns of piracy according to the BBC. The suit against a members-only, file sharing site called Newzbin 2 was brought to U.K. courts by the Motion Picture Association. The MPA accused Newzbin 2 of supporting users that shared illegal copies of movies on the site. This ruling sets a precedent in the U.K. and supports further lawsuits to be brought against sites suspected of illegal file sharing activity.

The U.K. Internet service provider BT is being directed to use software called CleanFeed, a program used to block child pornography by several ISPs. BT is not planning on appealing the ruling and is meeting with the MPA in court during October to figure out a timeline for this implementation. According to estimates of the MPA, the Newzbin 2 site takes in about $1.5 million per year from approximately 700,000 members. In a previous case in 2010, the High Court in London ordered Newzbin to remove all copyrighted material from the site. Newzbin responded by shutting down and launched Newzbin 2 under a new jurisdiction to avoid further prosecution.

Recommended Videos

Other European countries, like Italy, have instituted site blocking through ISPs. Opponents of Internet censorship reacted negatively against today’s ruling. According to The Guardian, people against the ruling struck up concerns about overuse of blocking sites, blocking legitimate content and reliance on outside forces, like the MPA, to control what content the public is allowed to see. Proponents of the ruling focused on the empowerment of copyright holders in protecting content.

Before the ruling was announced today, a representative of Newzbin 2 threatened to navigate around the content filters found in the CleanFeed software. Experts that use the CleanFeed software claim that the program wasn’t designed for blocking content other than child pornography and adapting it to block Newzbin 2 will be difficult.

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Computing

How to change margins in Google Docs

Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content --- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Computing

What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app

A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Computing

Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs

A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.

For the last few decades, Microsoft Word has been the de facto standard for word processors across the working world. That's finally starting to shift, and it looks like one of Google's productivity apps is the heir apparent. The company's Google Docs solution (or to be specific, the integrated word processor) is cross-platform and interoperable, automatically syncs, is easily shareable, and perhaps best of all, is free.

However, using Google Docs proves it still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all, and millions still use Microsoft Word. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs.
How does each word processing program compare?
To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.