BREIN: Situation of lawlessness must end.

Today BREIN lost their case against Ziggo and XS4ALL, but they remain determined to block access to the Pirate Bay and will appeal the verdict. BREIN stated that that the verdicts against the Pirate Bay in both the Netherlands and Sweden must be upheld to stop the situation of lawlessness on the Internet. BREIN feels strengthened by the fact that the judge held that ISPs are not exempt from legal action on the basis of the ‘mere conduit’ provisions from the e-commerce directive (2000/31/EC).

BREIN was surprised by the view of the court that going after individual subscribers was less far-reaching than obtaining a block for all Ziggo subscribers. BREIN has never targeted individuals in the past, and while it is not clear whether BREIN will change this policy, BREIN’s director Tim Kuik at least hinted at the possibility. Kuik called Ziggo’s admission that they are willing to hand over the contact details of their users at BREIN’s request “interesting”.