Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk Asked to Block Newzbin2

Following last month's landmark ruling that saw British Telecom forced to block access to popular file-sharing site Newzbin2, The Motion Picture Association has asked three more internet service providers to block the site, too.

British Telecom was two weeks ago ordered to block access to file-sharing site Newzbin2 by Mr Justice Arnold of the British High Court. The ruling was seen as a landmark win for the MPA as well as the music and film industry in general. BT was then recently approached by a group of companies (including the MPA) in the music and film business and asked to block the Pirate Bay. BT said that, similar to the Newzbin2 case, it would need a court order before it would begin blocking anything. 

Today, the BBC reports that the MPA has issued similar request to Virgin Media and Sky. Following its win against BT, the company is hoping to have Virgin Media, Sky and TalkTalk block Newzbin2 as well. While Virgin Media and Sky have said they would obey court orders, the BBC writes that TalkTalk is "considering its response."

Andrew Heaney, head of regulatory affairs at TalkTalk, told the BBC that there are some aspects of the the order that the company thinks are inappropriate, including the fact that TalkTalk would have to foot the bill to implement the ban. BT was also forced to pay for the cost of the block, which it esitmates to be about £5,000. The company had been hoping that Justice Arnold would take its side and force the studios to cough up the cash, but the ISP lost that fight, too. TalkTalk told the BBC that if the cost is very high, it might take its fight to the courts.

"In a sense it wouldn't be worth having a legal battle over that but if the costs get a lot more we may reserve the right to contest it in the future," the company said.