Agreement among internet providers and copyright holders regarding the blocking of websites with illegal content

Last month, Dutch internet providers and copyright holders, united in the Dutch Copyright Foundation (in Dutch: Federatie Auteursrechtbelangen) and Dutch anti-piracy foundation Stichting Brein, signed the Covenant on the Blocking of Websites. Internet providers and copyright holders reached agreement on the blocking of websites with content that, according to court rulings, infringes copyright laws or related rights. The negotiations were initiated and facilitated by the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security (J&V) and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK).

With this covenant, Dutch internet providers are prepared to block collectively any websites that enable illegal downloading. This will only happen after a court ruling in proceedings initiated by Stichting BREIN against a single provider. Until now, Stichting BREIN usually launched multiple proceedings against individual providers in order to seek an injunction from the courts to block websites that offer illegal content. The rules regarding the procedure for obtaining such injunctions have been laid down in the covenant. Similar agreements are in place in numerous other European countries.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) was consulted as part of the drafting process of the covenant. According to ACM, blocking infringing websites on the basis of an injunction is allowed under the net neutrality regulation. That is why ACM will not take any proactive enforcement action in cases that evidently fall under the scope of the covenant. When receiving complaints or requests for enforcement regarding such blocking injunctions, ACM will first contact the providers that are involved in the covenant.

Dutch Minister for Legal Action Sander Dekker comments: "This is a key element in the strategy against online piracy. The use of copyrighted material must be rewarded fairly, and that material should not be distributed illegally.” Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Stef Blok adds: “Such infringements can be pushed back, particularly if creators of digital content such as movies and articles work together with internet providers. This covenant is a positive step in that direction.”

Anne de Jong of the Dutch Copyright Foundation says: “The Dutch Copyright Foundation is very pleased, and would like to thank the ministers for helping create this covenant, which is so important to producers and publishers of films, series, books, music, video games, and visual work. They see the blocking of illegal content distributed on infringing websites as a key tool in combating piracy and in improving the earning power of creators.”

Tim Kuik of Stichting BREIN adds: "This is an important step in the fight against large-scale piracy. We see sites that persist in their illegal content, and that are listed anonymously with hosting providers that ignore injunctions or simply enable such sites to the fullest to continue with their activities. These sites inflict considerable harm to legal commercial exploitation, which results in job losses in the creative sector.”

Mathieu Andriessen of Vereniging NLconnect, which is the Dutch trade association of the broadband industry, says, also on behalf of other internet providers: “As internet providers, we greatly value high-quality content and internet freedom. At the same time, we offer access to the Internet in accordance with the rules on net neutrality. Illegal activities must be nipped in the bud, which is why we have fundamental objections against the blocking of websites. Nevertheless, we welcome the clear arrangements that have been laid down in the covenant. If an independent judge orders an internet provider to block a specific website, after a careful legal procedure, it would be more efficient if we as providers followed that order collectively.”