Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/20/bt_blocks_pirate_bay/

Brit telco flagship BT joins blockade of Pirate Bay

ISP battle squadrons unlikely to end raiding, however

By Kelly Fiveash

Posted in SaaS, 20th June 2012 09:57 GMT

BT has glued shut conventional access to The Pirate Bay in the UK, which means all the major ISPs in Blighty have now complied with a High Court judge's order to block thepiratebay.se from their networks.

Virgin Media was the first to comply with the order and O2-owner Telefonica, TalkTalk, Everything Everywhere and BSkyB all quickly followed suit.

However, unlike its rivals, BT wasn't initially issued with an order from the court. Instead the national telco was granted more time to come to an agreement with UK music lobby group the BPI.

Reg readers got in touch to confirm that the blockade had begun in earnest around midday yesterday.

Sadly for record labels, cutting off thepiratebay.se won't prevent web surfers in the UK from accessing the music content elsewhere.

The cat-and-mouse battle between The Pirate Bay and the entertainment industry will undoubtedly continue as there are plenty of workarounds for customers with internet access from the big telco players in Blighty.*

The Register asked the BPI if it planned to take further action regarding TPB being hosted elsewhere on other IP addresses. It hadn't responded to our request for comment at time of writing, however. ®

Bootnote

*It's not necessary to post workarounds in the comments section; we are sure your fellow readers can seek out and find whatever they need themselves. OK, guys? – El Mod