Digital Legal

IFPI welcomes mega web-block ruling in India

By | Published on Monday 19 March 2012

IFPI

The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry dusted off its gloat hat last week to welcome a ruling in the Indian courts that ordered all 387 internet service providers operating in the country to block access to 104 copyright infringing websites. Well, that’s efficient isn’t it? No need to go to the hassle of suing every individual ISP over every single dodgy website like in the UK, just get one super injunction to deal with everything.

Welcoming the judgement, IFPI boss lady Frances Moore, wearing the aforementioned hat with a certain kind of class, told reporters: “This decision is a victory for the rule of law online and a blow to those illegal businesses that want to build revenues by violating the rights of others. It highlights the importance the Indian courts place on the creative industries and their contribution to the economy. The court ruled that blocking is a proportionate and effective way to tackle website piracy. The Indian government should build on this progress by moving forward legislation to effectively tackle all forms of digital piracy to enable the country’s digital music market to reach its full potential”.

The Indian market has long been dogged by rampant piracy, of course, but many content owners hope that the digital era could open up new opportunities if unlicensed online content distribution can be curtailed, hence why the local music industry’s trade body pursued the legal action that resulted in last week’s landmark ruling.



READ MORE ABOUT: |