The IFPI has partially succeeded in its war against the Pirate Bay, at least in one European country. The international counterpart of the RIAA won a lawsuit last week in Denmark that resulted in one Danish ISP, Tele2, being ordered to block access to the site. Tele2 has complied for the time being, but the ban hasn't exactly dealt a blow against the Pirate Bay—in fact, the site is getting more traffic than ever from users in Denmark and has already found new ways to help Tele2 customers to get around the ban.
The Danish court found that the Pirate Bay is indisputably used as a means to traffic copyrighted materials between users and that Tele2 is responsible for making the site freely available to customers. "[T]he court finds that DMT2 Ltd., by giving its customers access to the www.thepiratebay.org, assists in the violation of the copyrights administered by the claimants," reads the translated ruling posted at Danish consumer rights lobby group Piratgruppen. "DMT2 Ltd. is ordered to undertake the adequate measures, suitable in the prevention of access for DMT2 Ltd. customers to the web site of www.thepiratebay.org and related sub pages and sub domains."
Tele2 went along with the ruling and began blocking access to the Pirate Bay, but not happily. It was the only ISP in the country ordered to block the site, while others were allowed to continue serving up Pirate Bay pages. "In this case, we think it is needed to have a clarification of the legal grounds, and that is why we are discussing this with the other companies," Tele2 regulations chief Nicholai Pfeiffer told IDG.
Still, the Pirate Bay wrote on its blog that traffic in Denmark is up 12 percent since the ruling last week, which it attributes to media attention and users trying to find ways around the ban. The group wrote that Tele2 customers are beginning to find DNS solutions—such as OpenDNS—that don't block the site, and many of them are using the Pirate Bay's new domain thejesperbay.org for their torrenting needs. From just Tele2, the Pirate Bay says that there has been no noticeable traffic difference before and after the ban.
This isn't the first time the IFPI has held Tele2 responsible for aiding in the trafficking of copyrighted content. A very similar Danish court ruling came down in 2006, demanding that Tele2 block access to Russian music site AllOfMP3, which didn't go over very well at the time either. Industry groups called the move dangerous, as ISPs could also be forced to censor sites that also provide access to freely-published, legal content (such as, well, the Pirate Bay). Piratgruppen spokesperson Sebastian Gjerding agreed, telling TorrentFreak last week, "In Turkey and China, it's the state that decides what information the people can access and what should be censored. In Denmark its apparently the record industry."
Of course, the folks behind the Pirate Bay wouldn't be happy without voicing their own opinions on the matter, which is that they operate legally within the confines of Swedish law (where the operation is based). Gottfrid Svartholm Warg spoke on television about the case, saying that the site doesn't actually transfer illegal materials and is therefore not guilty of copyright infringement. "It's not stealing, morally or legally," he said.