Last week, the Dutch ISP Leaseweb was forced to take down the everlasting.nu BitTorrent tracker after the Amsterdam court decided that it facilitated copyright infringement.
As reported, the outcome of the lawsuit initiated by the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN could spell trouble for some of the key players in the BitTorrent landscape. Concerned about this decision, administrators at other trackers hosted at Leaseweb started looking for alternative hosts.
In an attempt to re-assure its customers, Leaseweb is set to appeal against the original court decision regarding everlasting.nu. They argue that the decision is an unacceptable restriction on freedom of expression on the Internet.
In addition Leaseweb stressed that they have nothing to do with the downtime issues Demonoid experienced this week. “Leaseweb had no contact with the owner of Demonoid this week”, Leaseweb’s lawyer noted.
The lawyers office further states that they demand that BREIN is more documented and thorough in their requests to take down BitTorrent sites. “If the ruling in the everlasing.nu case holds up, freedom of expression on the Internet would be a joke”, the lawyers said.
Tim Kuik, managing director of BREIN says Leaseweb doesn’t stand a chance because their previous request was well grounded, and everlasting.nu unmistakably engaged in unlawful behavior. Kuik further explained that illegally offering files has nothing to do with privacy and freedom of expression, as Leaseweb suggested.
To be continued…
Source: Webwereld (Dutch)
