The Pirate Bay no longer subject to internet block

The Court of Appeals in The Hague lifted a block on The Pirate Bay Tuesday because the order was ineffective.

The Hague District Court in January 2012 had ordered two ISPs (Ziggo and XS4ALL) to block The Pirate Bay. T-Mobile was also ordered to block The Pirate Bay, but sold its ADSL business.

The appeals court noted in its verdict that the block was ineffective because it was easily circumvented by the ISPs’ subscribers.

Amsterdam University’s Institute of Information Law reported that the number of illegal downloads after the block was put in place actually increased.

”The circumstance that, despite the blockade, the number of illegal downloaders has increased indicates that newcomers, at least a significant number of them, is not deterred by a blockade to start downloading from illegal sources,” the court said.