While this site is focused on Canadians and the best tools to use here to access the latest and greatest in entertainment, we’d be remiss if we didn’t share some alarming news.
The UK High Court has ordered six of the country’s largest ISPs to block access to Mixdrop.me and Mixdrop.co, according to reports. Netflix and a number of major Hollywood studios asked for the injunction on behalf of themselves and other content creators. This is the first blocking action in the UK targeting a cyberlocker service that hosts movies
The entertainment industries’ favorite anti-piracy technique is without a doubt website blocking. The United Kingdom has set the bar high in this area. Since 2011, the High Court has ordered Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to filter out numerous popular pirate sites.
It’s difficult to come by precise statistics, but it’s generally accepted that thousands of URLs are now inaccessible, including The Pirate Bay, Sci-Hub, Fmovies, NewAlbumReleases, and Team-Xecuter. Non-VPN users will be the ones that primarily feel the impact.
This month, two new domains were added to the list. The MPA and Sky, on behalf of Netflix, Disney and other Hollywood studios, successfully lobbied the High Court to order six UK ISPs to prevent Mixdrop.me and Mixdrop.co from being accessible.
First Cyberlocker Blocking Order For MPA
While both domains have the same base name, it’s not clear whether they’re operated by the same people. Mixdrop.me appears to be a pirate streaming site while Mixdrop.co is a file-sharing service known as a cyberlocker.
In terms of cyberlocker blocking, this is not the first time. The High Court one year ago ordered the same ISPs to block file-hosting service Nitroflare for hosting illegal music, which was the first time a cyberlocker site has been shut down for hosting films and TV shows.
Unclear Grounds
Mixdrop.co has been banned by the High Court, but no further explanation has been provided. Mixdrop.co will be blocked on the basis of an injunction that was granted by the High Court, but this document is not available to the public and so its motivation remains a mystery.
There are cyberlockers that may be considered illegal. For instance, those who encourage people to post copyright-infringing material or ignore takedown requests. However, Mixdrop doesn’t appear to fall into this category at first sight. The website has a clear copyright policy and accepts DMCA notifications. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of intellectual property protection regularly.