European ISPs Want Rightsholders Held Accountable for Overblocking Damage
3 days ago
- #piracy enforcement
- #site blocking
- #EU copyright
- EuroISPA warns that site blocking measures are becoming disproportionate and extreme in some EU countries, citing limited positive effects from previous anti-piracy efforts.
- The European Commission should prioritize enforcing existing laws rather than introducing new obligations, as overblocking incidents are causing collateral damage to legitimate services and users.
- Site blocking orders have expanded to DNS resolvers and VPN providers, which lack direct links to infringing content and face technical challenges in implementing geographic blocks.
- Examples of overblocking include Italy's Piracy Shield affecting over 7,700 domains, Spain's measures disrupting banking apps and payment platforms, and Cisco withdrawing services in France and Belgium due to blocking demands.
- EuroISPA calls for rightsholders to be held accountable for overblocking damage under existing EU directives and criticizes rapid blocking requirements that disproportionately burden smaller providers.