[governance] Piracy site Newzbin2 gives up and closes 15 months after block

[Riaz K Tayob]

[Compliance with the law is no defence? If the sites claims are true...]

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:17 GMT
Piracy site Newzbin2 gives up and closes 15 months after block
Screengrab of Newzbin 2, BBC Newzbin originally claimed it was 
unaffected by the block as it offered workarounds
Continue reading the main story 
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20540853#story_continues_1>


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Newzbin2, once one of the web's most popular sites offering links to 
pirated content, has decided to close.

It comes 15 months after a UK court ordered internet service providers 
to block the site, and amid global pressure from copyright holders.

Internet rights groups said the move was "pointless" in stopping piracy.

In a statement, Newzbin2's owners said it had struggled to cover costs 
because payment providers had "understandably lost their nerve".

"Newzbin2 was always hoped to be a viable underground commercial 
venture," the site said.

"The figures just don't stack up."

The Creative Coalition Campaign, which represents groups such as the 
Motion Picture Association (MPA) and record industry body the BPI, 
welcomed the announcement.

"This is great news," chairwoman Christine Payne said.

"Pirate websites should not be allowed to trade as this undermines the 
ability of legitimate businesses to recoup their considerable investment 
and threatens jobs in the creative sector."

Heavily sued

Newzbin2 was the follow-up site to the original Newzbin1, which was sued 
by the MPA, leaving it with massive debts.

The site was taken over by a group of hackers known as Team R Dogs who 
resurrected the site as Newzbin2.

In July 2011, a court ruling meant the site had to be blocked to users 
in the UK.

Continue reading the main story 
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20540853#story_continues_2>


    "Start Quote

    All our payment providers dropped out or started running scared"

Newzbin2 statement

It attempted various techniques to circumvent the ban, but users began 
to head elsewhere.

"Newzbin1 was said to have had 700,000 registered users," the site's 
statement said.

"In fact that was the total number of people who ever signed up in the 
history of Newzbin from 2000 onwards.

"Only a fraction were active, loads of people dropped out and went to 
other sites."

'Running scared'

The administrators defended their record on tackling piracy, saying they 
had been willing to comply with requests to remove pirated content - but 
that copyright holders had never sent them a "single complaint".

"The tragedy is this: unlike Newzbin1 we are 100% DMCA [Digital 
Millennium Copyright Act] compliant," the statement said.

Continue reading the main story 
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20540853#story_continues_3>


    Block parties

The Pirate Bay screenshot

Efforts to stem online piracy have in recent times focused on cutting 
off the public's access to websites offering links to download content.

Groups like the BPI - which represents the UK music industry - have used 
the courts to make internet service providers (ISPs), who typically 
resist such moves, block websites.

Aside from Newzbin2, this year has seen The Pirate Bay blocked by all of 
the UK's major ISPs, a controversial move among campaigners who believe 
that such censorship is ineffective.

Following the block, The Pirate Bay's traffic plummeted. However, other 
data has suggested the overall level of piracy has not dropped.

Beyond blocking sites, copyright holders have also called for measures 
to make the likes of Google give preferential treatment to search 
results containing legal downloads.

"We have acted on every DMCA notice we received without stalling or 
playing games: if there was a DMCA complaint the report was gone. Period."

As well as providing a free service listing download links, the site 
also offered a premium subscription option with various perks.

However, the site said not enough members had been paying, and that for 
those that had, the services the site had used to receive the money had 
been backing out.

"All our payment providers dropped out or started running scared," the 
site said.

It added that accepting Bitcoin - an electronic, hard-to-track currency 
- had not been an option because it was "just too hard for 90% of people".

The Open Rights Group, which campaigns for an open internet, said 
Newzbin's closure should not be taken as a sign that blocking sites was 
effective.

"Newzbin were rightly pursued through the courts and found to be 
encouraging infringement," said Jim Killock, the group's executive 
director.

"That is the right approach. However, censorship and block orders are 
disturbing and we think unnecessary given the success in tackling the 
businesses and payment mechanisms involved.

"Web blocking is a blunt instrument and is a dangerous practice. We wish 
copyright owners the best in enforcing their rights and building their 
businesses, but urge them not to resort to further requests for 
censorship."

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