Portugal Blocks Popular Torrent and Streaming Sites
Portuguese Internet providers have blocked access to more than 50 domain names of popular torrent sites and streaming portals. The blockades are part of a new agreement between the authorities, copyright holders and ISPs, through which hundreds of websites are expected to be blocked during the months to come.
Rather than taking site operators to court, copyright holders increasingly demand that Internet providers should block access to ‘pirate’ domains instead.
As a result, courts all around the world have ordered ISPs to block subscriber access to various pirate sites. But there are other ways.
In Portugal a voluntary process has recently been formalized through an agreement between several parties including the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Telecommunication Operators.
Earlier this year local Internet Providers were already ordered to block access to The Pirate Bay and under the new agreement it would be possible to add new pirate sites without a court intervention.
This weekend the new site blocking mechanism was used for the first time, with ISPs adding 51 new domain names connected to copyright-infringing sites.
The list (posted in full below) includes popular torrent sites including as KickassTorrents (Kat.cr), ExtraTorrent, Isohunt, YTS and RARBG, as well as streaming portals and linking sites such as Dayt.se, Watchseries and Primewire.
In addition to several new targets, Pirate Bay’s alternative domain name thepiratebay.la and unofficial proxy piratebay.to were also added. Users who try to access any of the domain names now get a notice informing them that the site has been blocked.
“The site you try to access is blocked in compliance with a notification from the Regulatory Authority,” the translated message reads.
The 51 domain names are just the start, as the various parties previously announced that hundreds of sites will eventually be blocked. Under the agreement copyright holders can file two complaints each month, each of which can target up to 50 websites.
All sites are added following complaints from copyright holders. The reported sites are investigated by local anti-piracy group MAPINET and will end up on the blocklist if there’s enough evidence of systematic infringing activity.
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The full list of blocked domain names, as reported by Exame Informatica, is as follows.
1337x.to
btrev.net
clubedodownload.info
dayt.se
extratorrent.cc
forum-maximus.net
gigatuga.com
lusoshare.com
megafilmeshd.net
moov7.net
osmetralhas.pt
osreformados.com/index.php
piratatugafilmes.com
poptuga.com
ptxtuga.com
revistas-jornais.blogspot.com
revistas-jornais.blogspot.pt
seriestvix.tv
thewatchseries.to
toppt.net
torrentreactor.com
tuga.io
tugaanimado.net
tugaflix.com
tugaoxe.com
watchseries.lt
baixartv.com
cinefilmesonline.net
elitedosfilmes.com
filmesonline2.com
filmesonlinegratis.net
lusofilmesonline.com
monova.org
primewire.ag
rpds-download.org
cnsrc.me
seriesvideobb.com
sharetuga.com
torrenthound.com
tuga-filmes.info
warez-box.net
watchseries.li
filmesonlineportugueses.wordpress.com
isohunt.to
kat.cr
piratebay.to
rarbg.to
ratotv.net
thepiratebay.la
yts.to
toppt.tv
