European Union court rules that Internet Service Providers can block user access to media piracy sites

The internet is a world filled with endless content, both good and bad, which allows you to check out totally illegal things. For example, the United States is generally against the smoking of recreational marijuana and owning semiautomatics. Yet there's nothing stopping you or Chief Keef from posting photos of yourself lighting up and playing with AK-47's on Instagram, and letting us look at it. The same applies to illegally downloading music from sites such as The Pirate Bay. Sure, it's against the law, but the government can't stop you from getting to the site.

Until now, in Europe. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Thursday that Internet Service Providers could take action to prevent users from accessing piracy sites. Normally ISPs aren't in the business of getting involved with your personal choices, but the lawsuit that led to the CJEU's recent ruling might make them think otherwise.

Film distributors Constantin Film and Wega attempted to sue Austrian ISP UPC Telekabel Wien for not blocking its users from going to kino.to, a Tonga-based website that was the largest piracy site in nations such as Austria and Germany, receiving nearly 4 million visitors a day. Telekabel argued that it didn't have the legal right to block websites, however the new ruling states that they and other ISPs can block access to sites featuring pirating activity. Now companies such as Telekabel will be pressured to do so because music and film companies can now legitimately sue ISPs for providing users with access to the illegal content.

This decision won't just apply to Austria, but theoretically to all 28 members of the European Union. The ruling is most prescient to Sweden, the home of Pirate Bay. Ultimately, it won't have any effect on American users' ability to access similar sites however. Tonga probably won't move to shut down its media piracy sites anytime soon.