# The Pirate Bay blocked in the UK



## Wizerzak (Apr 30, 2012)

Internet service providers must block UK customers from accessing popular torrent portal The Pirate Bay, according to a new ruling handed down by the High Court today.
As reported by the BBC, Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all deny access to the controversial Swedish site.
The move follows a request from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) last November, asking ISPs to voluntarily block the site. They refused to do so without a court order, which the BPI has now obtained.
"The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale," commented BPI CEO Geoff Taylor.
"Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them.
"This is wrong - musicians, sound engineers and video editors deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else."
Virgin confirmed that it will adhere to the court's request, albeit reluctantly.
"As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price," explained a spokesperson.
It's not known exactly when access to the site will be turned off.
Outspoken Minecraft creator Markus 'Notch' Persson responded to the news by posting a link on his Twitter feed to a workaround that lets viewers in countries with a block in place to view the torrent hub, followed by a request - "please don't pirate Minecraft".
However, he then added, "Although if pirating Minecraft helps ensure the bastards don't get to censor the net, pirate it all you want."

 Source (Sorry, Eurogamer again, it's just they're usually unbiased and have short stories that people can be bothered to read).

I love how much effort the ISPs are putting into this (hint: none at all) - I'm sure they know how much of their traffic goes to this site. They'll probably block it but not bother clamping down on other ways of accessing it.


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## emigre (Apr 30, 2012)

BBC


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## RupeeClock (Apr 30, 2012)

Maybe their space satellite isn't so crazy after all.


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## Dter ic (Apr 30, 2012)

So if I change the DNS on my home router, I can get back to TPB?


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## Janthran (Apr 30, 2012)

I think you mean "The Penguin Bar"


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## Flame (Apr 30, 2012)

aaawww shit........ o wait, I have a VPN!


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## gamefan5 (Apr 30, 2012)

inb4PiratebaygetstakendownbytheFBI.


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## Armadillo (Apr 30, 2012)

Still works on Be*. Would have thought it would be blocked there as well as o2 own them.


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## Rydian (Apr 30, 2012)

... "lining their pockets"?

News to me.


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## yusuo (Apr 30, 2012)

I can still access it whens this all supposed to come into effect


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## Wizerzak (Apr 30, 2012)

emigre said:


> BBC


BBC is horrible for posting on GBAtemp. The text is split up into a million paragraphs and the articles are long (albeit more interesting) which puts people off reading it.


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## AlanJohn (Apr 30, 2012)

They'll just change the .se into something else and all of their problems will be fixed.


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## Deleted User (Apr 30, 2012)

Fucking americ.... oh wait.


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## corenting (Apr 30, 2012)

AlanJohn said:


> They'll just change the .se into something else and all of their problems will be fixed.



I think they are smart enough to have blocked server's IP and not domain name. Good luck UK ppl to access the site.
In France we can access it but French gov is watching some torrents on public trackers to stop us from using p2p


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## Langin (Apr 30, 2012)

It is blocked here as well, but I may not post an alternate link  search on google piratebay alternate. ^^


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## fojacko (Apr 30, 2012)

AlanJohn said:


> They'll just change the .se into something else and all of their problems will be fixed.


piratebay.tk


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## shakirmoledina (Apr 30, 2012)

ahh when will this battle end. hoping that it will stay as did demonoid.


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## holoflame (Apr 30, 2012)

EON said:


> It is blocked here as well, but I may not post an alternate link  search on google piratebay alternate. ^^


Strange, I can access it, no takedown on me.


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## Langin (Apr 30, 2012)

holoflame said:


> EON said:
> 
> 
> > It is blocked here as well, but I may not post an alternate link  search on google piratebay alternate. ^^
> ...



I have Ziggo, Ziggo and XS4All have blocked Piratebay cos Tim Kuik(aka Stichting Brein) forced them. 

http://www.nu.nl/internet/2712455/ziggo-en-xs4all-moeten-toegang-the-pirate-bay-blokkeren.html


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## Bladexdsl (Apr 30, 2012)

i get a warn for even mention tpb and now there's a whole thread about it...wheres the justice?!


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## CrimzonEyed (Apr 30, 2012)

Bladexdsl said:


> i get a warn for even mention tpb and now there's a whole thread about it...wheres the justice?!



+1


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## prowler (Apr 30, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> BBC is horrible for posting on GBAtemp. The text is split up into a million paragraphs and the articles are long (albeit more interesting) which puts people off reading it.


put some effort into your posts man, delete irrelevant text and bold that shit


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## KiraKat (Apr 30, 2012)

Firefox with stealthy add-on. Problem sorted muwahahaha


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## Wizerzak (Apr 30, 2012)

Bladexdsl said:


> i get a warn for even mention tpb and now there's a whole thread about it...wheres the justice?!


Yeah, you got warned for suggesting people to use TPB - there's hundreds of better ones out there, suggesting TBP deserves a warn.


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## CrimzonEyed (Apr 30, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> Bladexdsl said:
> 
> 
> > i get a warn for even mention tpb and now there's a whole thread about it...wheres the justice?!
> ...


I once got a wanring about just mention TPB.
Not advicing, just say'd something about it and got a warning 
Well TPB isn't nearly as good as IH.


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## HBK (Apr 30, 2012)

And this is why you use private trackers.


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## Hyro-Sama (Apr 30, 2012)

AH Suckers.


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## EZ-Megaman (Apr 30, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> "As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media..."


Yeah, depriving me of the internet I pay for at least once an hour is responsible.
In any case, there are better torrent sites to use than TPB. Would be interesting to see how people would react to this, at least.


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## FireEmblemGuy (Apr 30, 2012)

What does it even matter? I mean, on the larger scale, yeah, it's one step further from us having any e-rights at all, but it's not like there aren't dozens of better torrent sites (which I obviously won't name), which aren't blocked by this ruling. I can't remember the last time I got a torrent or magnet link from TPB.


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## Hielkenator (Apr 30, 2012)

nvm


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## jalaneme (Apr 30, 2012)

meh i don't care, i haven't been on that website for ages, i use another private tracker anyway.


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## Wabsta (Apr 30, 2012)

It's blocked for some (and probably all soon) ISP's in the Netherlands too. Not that it works, everyone knows how to use a proxy or other alternatives to reach thepiratebay.

Anyway, I use usenet, so I don't really care tbh..

(Also, making a service like netflix available would make me stop pirating most stuff. I don't mind paying money.. I haven't downloaded any music since Spotify, and I will stop pirating movies and series as soon as we have a service like netflix.)


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## Gahars (Apr 30, 2012)

Another attack on net swashbuckling by the British Crown. Arrgh, ladies and gentlemen... arrgh.


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## Mantis41 (Apr 30, 2012)

I only use it for TV downloads. There are plenty of other options.


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## chyyran (Apr 30, 2012)

Next thing you know, they'll be arresting people bypassing the block.


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## Quietlyawesome94 (Apr 30, 2012)

Private Trackers FTW. Next thing you know they'll be blocking all p2p traffic.


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## Smuff (Apr 30, 2012)

The net will soon be completely owned by TimeWarnerSonyUniversal Inc, and they will begin applying their arse-raping pricing strategy to internet access - *then *you'll all start to care


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## Skelletonike (Apr 30, 2012)

Lol, I'm usually not really a Notch fan, but I like what he wrote. xP
Piracy might hurt some companies and stuff, but in most cases if people like something they'll eventually get it (which is my case, for games, manga and music).

Im curious about the list of countries that were blocked tho.


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## prowler (Apr 30, 2012)

i use it to get 30 rock, modern family and new girl episodes, never really bothered about trying to find other (and possibly legal ways that allows me to watch it whenever i want on my computer) ways to get them.

this can be easily bypassed anyway, seedbox + VPN (seedboxes might provide VPNs) = hello tpb


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## Hyro-Sama (Apr 30, 2012)

prowler said:


> i use it to get 30 rock, modern family and new girl episodes, never really bothered about trying to find other (and possibly legal ways that allows me to watch it whenever i want on my computer) ways to get them.
> 
> this can be easily bypassed anyway, seedbox + VPN (seedboxes might provide VPNs) = hello tpb



I'm pretty sure you have to pay for those. Pirating is all about avoiding payment for goods/services.


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## prowler (Apr 30, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> I'm pretty sure you have to pay for those. Pirating is all about avoiding payment for goods/services.


usenet says hello

seedbox + VPN is one of the sure ways to never get caught by ISP for downloading torrents anyway and they do not cost much


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## Bladexdsl (May 1, 2012)

Wizerzak said:


> Bladexdsl said:
> 
> 
> > i get a warn for even mention tpb and now there's a whole thread about it...wheres the justice?!
> ...


no i didn't tell them to use* the pirate bay*

Added to warn level 							Escaping the "no site naming" rules still using "*The Penguin Bar" *even after several removed posts in other threads
http://gbatemp.net/t...ost__p__3969496


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## Luigi2012SM64DS (May 1, 2012)

AlanJohn said:


> They'll just change the .se into something else and all of their problems will be fixed.


i say they should change .se to .su which gives linux users acess to the site
horrible pun.
well you mentioned a pirate site which where you can download warez


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## HamburgerBandit (May 1, 2012)

GBAtemp will be next.


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## kaputnik (May 1, 2012)

I read "British Pornographic Industry" 


I might be wrong, but it should be easy to bypass that block: just use a proxy when accessing the site to get the magnet link. If I've understood this whole magnet link thingy right, the rest of the needed data is kept by the swarm, not the tracker itself.

It is however scary that the media companies has that kind of influence over the EU. I mean, there's been several cases when child pornography was "hosted" by TPB, but then nothing happened, but when the media companies starts complaining, it gets blocked.

Oh well, I guess it boils down to that raped kids generally got less money to put in the right pockets than the media companies.


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## EnigmaBlade (May 1, 2012)

It's only a matter of time before it's blocked over here too. Luckily for me, i rarely use torrents.


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## jamesaa (May 1, 2012)

I thought some european court (which ranks higher than the UK supreme court) had already ruled ISPs were protected from injunctions that forced them to filter or block traffic exactly like this :?:

We seem to have no problem obeying the EU courts when it comes to 'human rights' keeping alleged terrorists etc from being deported, but no we can ignore the EU for little things like censorship >.<

Only use piratebay when a TV show hasn't yet appeared on my normal choice of site anyway.


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## ZAFDeltaForce (May 1, 2012)

So, it has come to this

First Europe, then the world.


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## triassic911 (May 1, 2012)

Guys, you are better off using usenet. I'm not in the EU region, but if I was, I would resort to this (imo) easier alternative.


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## gifi4 (May 1, 2012)

Ehh, I use a private tracker, not too big of a worry, the only times TPB ever got used was when something wasn't provided by [Sorry, no name here]


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## Qtis (May 1, 2012)

Not really surprising, but nevertheless has an effect to quite a few. The block sadly affects also all the legal torrents on the site.

IMHO piracy is only a huge problem for the TV industry. Sure the Movie industry gets its part, but the films are probably available at around the same time around the world. TV series may take years to launch in other places, which makes piracy one of the only options. Even though people would be willing to pay for a service. Gaming is hurt by it, but services like Steam make piracy a trickier alternative (Steam being legal and quite cheap actually). Console gaming on the other hand.. Well the prices in their online services are still too high for everyone to be able to use them.. Music piracy has lost most of its uses after Spotify and similar services have such a large library of content (I'm happy at least).


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## Bladexdsl (May 1, 2012)

HamburgerBandit said:


> GBAtemp will be next.


never


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## Nah3DS (May 1, 2012)

pirates blocking the pirate bay
oh, the irony


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## mameks (May 1, 2012)

Been blocked here for ages.
Yes, Italy's ahead of the UK in terms of stopping piracy online.
/irony


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## ThePowerOutage (May 1, 2012)

The Industry is 5 years too late. They biggest problem they have is Youtube. At least half of my friends only listen to music off youtube. (The rest are audiophiles that *have* to have lossless files)


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## Anon10W1z (May 1, 2012)

Dter ic said:


> So if I change the DNS on my home router, I can get back to TPB?


Don't ask.


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## Lostbhoy (May 1, 2012)

It's still live on Virgin Media in Scotland. No probs here at all......yet!


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## WrathofGod (May 2, 2012)

Anon10W1z said:


> Dter ic said:
> 
> 
> > So if I change the DNS on my home router, I can get back to TPB?
> ...


Don't Tell.


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## Anon10W1z (May 2, 2012)

WrathofGod said:


> Anon10W1z said:
> 
> 
> > Dter ic said:
> ...


Duh.


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## freaksloan (May 2, 2012)

Is there not ways to easily get around the blocks?


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## Anon10W1z (May 2, 2012)

freaksloan said:


> Is there not ways to easily get around the blocks?


don't say anything.


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## Bladexdsl (May 2, 2012)

freaksloan said:


> Is there not ways to easily get around the blocks?


yes there is


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## the_randomizer (May 2, 2012)

freaksloan said:


> Is there not ways to easily get around the blocks?



There's almost always a way around blocks; and I since I know how to bypass the unjustified (not to mention douchebag-influenced) block that a _*certain* _upload service imposed on the US, I know how to bypass TPB's as well. But I won't.


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## ConJ (May 2, 2012)

This is precisely why I like/prefer private torrent sites.


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## Dter ic (May 2, 2012)

Teh P1rate bay iz blocked by Virgin Media

Do I need to say more?


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## Qtis (May 3, 2012)

Dter ic said:


> -snip-


Is it possible to see what other pages are blocked? That'd probably be an interesting read


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