Newzbin2 pirates prepare to sink BT web block

Pirate site Newzbin2 has cooked up a software client that it says will help UK users defeat a block on the site that is due to be enforced in October.

Hollywood studios and the Motion Picture Association won a case in the High Court in July that sought to force BT to stop Britons from accessing Newzbin2. It was presumed that BT would employ its online censorship system Cleanfeed, normally busy blocking child pornography sites, to keep UK netizens from downloading movies, music and applications using Newzbin2.

“We are pleased to announce the first Newzbin2 client software,” spokespirate "Mr White" told TorrentFreak. “This is targeted at UK users who are likely to get blocked in October. This first version is a bit rushed and so not very polished. As time goes by we shall improve it and add features.”

"We can't say how our client application works, but it uses a number of techniques to utterly defeat Cleanfeed," he added.

Network protocol analysis software, which TorrentFreak used to run some "basic tests" on the Newzbin2 client, showed the pirates' app could defeat known features of Cleanfeed.

At the time the court order was made, BT argued that even if it was instructed to block the site, it would still be possible for determined users to get around the block. In the court document of the judge's ruling, counsel for BT said:

Indeed, the evidence shows the operators of Newzbin2 have already made plans to assist users to circumvent such blocking. There are at least two, and possibly more, technical measures which users could adopt to achieve this.

A BT spokesperson told The Reg it couldn't comment because the specifics of how the court order will be obeyed have yet to be decided. ®