Pirate Bay Ban Has Little Effect on U.K. File Sharing

A court-ordered blockade of The Pirate Bay in the U.K. has had little effect on overall file-sharing, according to a BBC report.

Citing an unnamed, major U.K. Internet service provider (ISP), the BBC said peer-to-peer (P2P) activity returned to close-to-normal levels shortly after ISPs blocked The Pirate Bay.

P2P activity peaked during The Pirate Bay court hearings thanks to media coverage, but dropped about 11 percent after the blockade, the ISP told the BBC. Now, however, the volume of traffic on P2P sites has returned to pre-ban levels.

In April, the U.K.'s High Court ordered five regional ISPs to block The Pirate Bay, and they reluctantly complied. That came after Dutch ISPs were ordered to do the same as of Feb. 1; another five Dutch ISPs were also required to close access to the site in May.

According to the BBC, the ISP's figures could be skewed based on figures that can't distinguish what is being downloaded, or from where.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which pursued The Pirate Bay ban in the U.K., has pledged to pursue other P2P bans.

"We intend to bring more such cases," BPI CEO Geoff Taylor said in a July 4 speech. "And we will continue to press Government to create a faster and less costly mechanism for to block such site in the Communications Act White Paper next year."

In a Sunday post on its Facebook page, The Pirate Bay said it has "scattered the servers around the globe so that a shutdown at one place won't be enough to bring the site down."

"Try to sink one and ten new will rise," The Pirate Bay said.

:story: PC Magazine