According to a non-binding ruling in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) published last week, ISPs across the EU can be instructed to block websites that provide access to pirated material.
An EU Advocate General ruled that the ISPs can be ordered to operate as buffers between their subscribers and site operators who infringe copyright law in Europe by policing access to that content.
The ruling came after Austria’s Supreme Court sought guidance from the ECJ to determine what role ISPs should play in helping to enforce copyright regulations, following a legal dispute between telecommunications company UPC Austria and two film companies there.
The Austrian court asked the ECJ to consider whether an ISP that provides internet access to its customers, who then connect to websites that carry illegal material, should be seen as an intermediary whose services are used by a third party, such as the operator of a site with pirated content on it.
Pedro Cruz Villalón agreed that such a firm might indeed be viewed as an intermediary in a case like this and said that its services are, in turn, used by copyright infringers. Courts could therefore place injunctions on ISPs after weighing “the fundamental rights of the parties”.
The Advocate General added that a specific blocking measure concerning a specific website is not disproportionate, in principle, although a block would have to apply only to illegal content found online.
Judges in the Court of Justice are not required to be bound by the Advocate General’s views. They will deliberate the case before passing judgment over the course of the next few months. However, it is rare for the EU’s highest court to dismiss such opinions.