New UK Law Allows Courts to Block Websites Suspected of Infringing Copyright

April 9, 2010, 8:49 PM UTC

LONDON—The United Kingdom’s High Court has been granted the power to order Internet Services Providers to block websites suspected of containing unlawful copyrighted content following the April 8 passage of the Digital Economy Act.

The High Court’s authorization to grant an injunction against ISPs is enabled under a provision in Clause 18, “Preventing access to specified online locations for the prevention of online copyright infringement” which the House of Lords passed last month (15 ECLR 486, 3/24/10).

The clause has been widely criticized with the lobby group the Internet Service Providers Association describing it in an April 8 ...

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