Brit mobile operators blocking Pirate Bay

By Cory Doctorow at 9:16 am Tuesday, Apr 21

Glyn sez, "BT and other mobile broadband providers are blocking access to The Pirate Bay, as part of a "self-regulation" scheme. The warning page states the page has been blocked in 'compliance with a new UK voluntary code'. It may be some thing to do with the UK's P2P process. PC Pro is reporting that the block is in partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and that 'all five of the UK's major mobile operators have agreed to participate.'"

Wait, what? The IWF is supposed to be in charge of blocking child porn -- now it's copyright too? Good grief. What next?

"This uses a barring and filtering mechanism to restrict access to all WAP and internet sites that are considered to have 'over 18' status," the warning states. It goes on to list a series of categories that are blocked, including adult/sexually explicit content, "criminal skills" and hacking.

It's not stated which category The Pirate Bay breaches, although the site does host links to porn movies.

BT's warning message advises customers to contact customer services if they want the block on the site to be lifted. The message also invites users to seek further information on the self-regulation scheme on the Internet Watch Foundation's website, although an IWF spokesman denies any involvement with the mobile filtering scheme.

BT blocks off Pirate Bay (Thanks, Glyn!)