Various entertainment portals are pressuring Swedish ISP Bredbandsbolaget to strip The Pirate Bay users of the access from the long-standing torrent tank to avoid internet piracy charges. Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry teamed up against the ISP in court.
However, Torrent Freak reports that Bredbandsbolaget is not fazed by the plaintiffs and does not want to give in to the other party's petition to censor the site. The company argues that in the event the legal battle compels them to do that, it will be "very dangerous" and it will "[open] a door [that] must remain closed."
"If the media companies are given the right it will lead to absurd consequences and Internet subscribers will ultimately end up using a severely censored Internet," Bredbandsbolaget CEO Patrik Hofbauer and company legal counsel Anna Bystrom said in a joint statement acquired by the said publication.
The legal battle continues and results on whether or not the Sweden-based ISP triumphs over the group of massive entertainment companies and copyright holders will be released by the end of this month. As per Torrent Freak, many have tried and failed to stifle The Pirate Bay in a legal battle but this might not be the case this time.
Torrent Freak says that it is highly likely that Bredbandsbolaget will to fail to win. If that happens, it will be the first time a battle in court triumphed to abridge The Pirate Bay. But all throughout the legal process, VC Post says that the torrent hub remains up and running.
Nonetheless, there's the fear that The Pirate Bay could very well face censorship soon with various prolific torrent sites being put away one by one by other copyright holders. Popular torrent site YIFY or (YTS) was recently folded down by Motion Picture Association of America, a month after Popcorn Time was put to rest.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by Universal, Sony and the others also targets streaming portal Swefilmer apart from The Pirate Bay. It is being reported that Microsoft has joined the side of the plaintiffs after Windows 10 was allegedly patched up to block The Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrent and the like.
