T-Mobile blocks pirate sites, reports itself for net neutrality violations

T-Mobile in Austria has reported itself over a potential EU net neutrality breach after it blocked several The Pirate Bay clone sites, TorrentFreak reported.

The Austrian Supreme Court ruled in November that sites such as The Pirate Bay can be blocked if rights holders have exhausted all other options and make a block request.

EU law states that pirate sites can be blocked, but T-Mobile is concerned that doing so without a court order could breach the Telecoms Single Market regulations passed in 2015.

“It sounds paradoxical, but this should finally bring legal certainty in a long-standing dispute over pirate sites,” said T-Mobile after reporting itself.

“The service provider is forced upon notification by the copyright owner to even judge about possible copyright infringements. At the same time, the provider is violating the principle of net neutrality by setting up a ban.”

Now read: Why net neutrality in South Africa is not a simple play