In a verdict handed down today the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed that EU Internet service providers can be required to block access to sites engaged in copyright infringement. The decision follows the advice of the Advocate General in a case involving the now-defunct streaming site Kino.to.Although the dream of blocking sites in the United States was completely crushed along with the now-dead SOPA legislation, music and movie companies across Europe have enjoyed a much smoother ride.Torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents are blocked in several countries around the EU and in the UK, for example, dozens of ‘pirate’ domains are now blocked at the ISP level.
http://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-isps-can-be-forced-to-block-pirate-sites-140327/Also see:EU high court says ISPs could block piracy sites
The European Union’s highest court, the EU Court of Justice, ruled on Thursday that Internet service providers could reasonably be required to block piracy sites if those pages are found to be violating copyrights.The ruling is by no means a definitive decision on how ISPs across the European Union should handle piracy sites. The court essentially agreed with its advocate general’s office, which laid down a preliminary ruling last year, saying that while blocking piracy sites is permitted, the ultimate decision should be left to courts in member states.
http://www.cnet.com/news/eu-high-court-says-isps-could-block-piracy-sites/