Illegal Sites and Web-blocking

In the last week there have been three stories in the news concerning copyright infringement and “illegal websites”. In each case, a group with an interest in enforcing copyright has called for or announced measures against such websites, but this raises an important question of what makes a website illegal. In terms of copyright infringement this is a very tricky question as there is no easy way to tell whether content or a service is unlawful.

The Terrible Plight of the Film Industry

Last week the MPAA^[1] released their “Theatrical Market Statistics” for 2010. The report shows the disturbing effect that piracy is having on the film production and distribution industries. According to the official figures, global box office takings in 2010 were a mere $31.8 billion (around £19.7bn). While this figure may look impressive, it was a mere 6% increase on 2009 (25% increase since 2006). This compares with estimated growth of around 1.7% in the UK and 2.9% in the US for 2010.^[2]