Internet service providers forced to clamp down on film streaming sites

Some of the biggest UK net firms have begun blocking access to two sites that have been accused of breaching copyright laws.

The blocks were imposed after the Motion Picture Association won a court order against internet service providers, forcing them to suspend the film streaming websites Movie2K and Download4All.

The UK’s largest internet providers – including BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, BSkyB and EE – are all believed to have stopped their customers from accessing the prohibited sites.

“Virgin Media has received an order from the Courts requiring it to prevent access to Download4All and Movie2K in order to help protect against copyright infringement,” a spokesperson told TorrentFreak.

“As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company, but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives to give consumers access to great content at the right price.”

The news comes not long since the European Court clamped down on UK streaming sites, after the Court declared that TVCatchup was in breach of its 2001 law, which states that original broadcasters have exclusive rights to approve and restrict programming use by third parties.

Despite the recent blocks, pro-piracy activists have since set up a copy site of Movie2K in a bid to sidestep the imposed restriction.