[Kaeli]

ROME—An Italian judge has ordered the country's Internet service providers to block access to The Pirate Bay, a Swedish file-sharing Web site, as part of a probe into copyright law violation, officials said Thursday.
Since last week, Italy's anti-fraud police have been informing providers they must heed the order of a judge in the northern city of Bergamo, police Col. Alessandro Nencini said.

Nencini said the judge had granted a request by Italian prosecutors, who have placed four Swedes under investigation for organizing the Web site. The ruling can be appealed.

Nencini said the probe stemmed from a complaint by a Milan-based anti-piracy group backed by Italian recording labels.

The Pirate Bay Web site carried a statement Thursday denouncing the ruling and giving users instructions on how to bypass filters installed by Italian providers.

The Pirate Bay, which started in 2004, allows 10 million to 15 million users worldwide to share films, music and other copyright-protected material.

In a separate case, a Swedish prosecutor filed charges against the site's organizers in January. Artists and recording companies from around the world subsequently demanded damages.

[Damo]

Originally Posted by Kaeli

ROME—An Italian judge has ordered the country's Internet service providers to block access to The Pirate Bay, a Swedish file-sharing Web site, as part of a probe into copyright law violation, officials said Thursday.
Since last week, Italy's anti-fraud police have been informing providers they must heed the order of a judge in the northern city of Bergamo, police Col. Alessandro Nencini said.

Nencini said the judge had granted a request by Italian prosecutors, who have placed four Swedes under investigation for organizing the Web site. The ruling can be appealed.

Nencini said the probe stemmed from a complaint by a Milan-based anti-piracy group backed by Italian recording labels.

The Pirate Bay Web site carried a statement Thursday denouncing the ruling and giving users instructions on how to bypass filters installed by Italian providers.

The Pirate Bay, which started in 2004, allows 10 million to 15 million users worldwide to share films, music and other copyright-protected material.

In a separate case, a Swedish prosecutor filed charges against the site's organizers in January. Artists and recording companies from around the world subsequently demanded damages.

You wonder why the bother doing this when any half competent PC user can bypass these blocks. Mabye to their minds, doing ANYTHING is better than nothing

[vikulenka]

Thanks for sharing - but should also share the link to article (unless you wrote it )