This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Häufig gestellte Fragen zur Vorlage des ACTA-Abkommens beim Europäis...

Following the recent decision of the European Commission to refer the draft Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the European Court of Justice, Access and EDRi have prepared this short FAQ to explain this process.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Niederländische ISPs zur Sperre von The Pirate Bay gezwungen

In its judgement of 11 January 2012, the Court of The Hague granted Dutch copyright enforcement organisation Brein's request to order Dutch internet providers Ziggo and XS4ALL to block access to The Pirate Bay. This is the opposite of an earlier ruling given in summary proceedings where no such order was given. Ziggo and XS4all will appeal the ruling.

The Court of The Hague held that Ziggo and XS4ALL have to block access to the domain names and IP-addresses of The Pirate Bay.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Finnischer ISP sperrt The Pirate Bay

On 9 January 2012, the Helsinki Enforcement authority obligated Finnish ISP Elisa to execute the court ruling that it had to block access to The Pirate Bay from its network.

This is the latest phase in an ongoing legal fight between the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre (CIAPC) and Elisa. Acting on behalf of IFPI Finland, CIAPC brought the case to court in May 2011, and in October the court ruled that Elisa must block access to The Pirate Bay.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Weißrussland übt starke Internetzensur aus

--- Article corrected on 23.01.2012----

6 January 2012 saw the application of the Belarusian law imposing even more restrictions on online free expression in a country that is already viewed as a dictatorship.

Thus, a new law is enacting the sanctions applied for the violation of the decree issued in February 2010 by President Alyaksandr Lukashenko (and entered into force in July 2010).

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Deutsches Netzsperrengesetz außer Kraft gesetzt

After more than two years of discussions and opposition, on 1 December 2011, the German Parliament has finally taken the decision to drop the Access Impediment Act, the law that proposed blocking access to websites deemed to have child pornographic content.

The decision was already considered by the German Government in April 2011 after the law had proven inefficient for its initial purpose of fighting child pornography and after being largely opposed by freedom activists.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Italienische Polizei sperrt Seiten mit Bannerwerbung für mutmaßlich ...

The Italian cybercrime police, Guardia di Finanza Agropoli, has recently DNS blocked a series of websites that were offering links to content indexed on BitTorrent, cyberlockers and eDonkey networks. Five of the blocked sites belonged to Italianshare.net network, which were allegedly releasing the links to the movies, games or music before their commercial release.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: US-Razzien gegen Domains und IP-Adressen gehen weiter

US authorities have resumed their "Operation in Our Sites" in order to attempt to fight counterfeit and piracy-related websites. During this second annual "Cyber Monday" crackdown, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has shut down 150 websites from all over the world.

The recent introduction of draft bills, such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) now aims at providing a legal basis for domain names and IP address seizures.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Finnischer Provider soll "The Pirate Bay" sperren

Hot on the heels of a Belgian court decision obligating two ISPs to block the Pirate Bay, the Helsinki District Court ruled on 26 October 2011 that the large Finnish ISP Elisa must block access to The Pirate Bay from its network, or face a 100 000 Euros fine. The block must take effect by 18 November 2011.

Elisa says it will appeal the ruling.