Record labels win court battle to block torrent sites… for a price

Australian record labels have won a court case against a number of internet service providers which will require them to block popular torrent website KickAssTorrent.

The rub is that the labels will have to pay what amounts to an administration fee of $50 per domain address in order to have this happen. With numerous proxy sites in operation, with more popping up by the hour, this could prove costly for the labels, and nigh impossible for the ISPs to implement.

So far ISPs such as Optus, iiNET and Telestra are required to block seven variations of the site, and have 15 business days to do so.

Justice Burley, who ruled on the case, found the labels should bear “some significant portion” of the cost to block such sites, as they benefit financially by the action, and such costs “appeared to be minimal”.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.