The Swedish Court of Appeal has ruled that local Internet Service Provider (ISP) Bredbandsbolaget is required to block notorious torrent site The Pirate Bay for the next three years. The injunction is line with the EU law, the Swedish Patent and Market Court of Appeal has claimed. Bredbandsbolaget had previously argued that its role was to simply supply internet access – not regulate the website that could be accessed. Clearly, that has changed following the ruling, which the court believes is proportional “in the light of EU law". According to technology blog FossBytes, this verdict could act as a doorway for copyright holders to target torrent websites in the future.

GETTY The Pirate Bay is set to be blocked for the next three years under EU law

REVEALED: Most torrented shows on Pirate bay and Kickass Torrents Thu, January 19, 2017 THESE are the top 10 shows that have been illegally downloaded the most on torrent site such as the Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents Play slideshow PH 1 of 10 NUMBER 10: The Grand Tour is number 10 in the most downloaded shows

Former Pirate Bay spokesperson Peter Sunde has spoken out about the ruling. "The fight is not about TPB – the users of TPB can just bypass this blockade easily," Mr Sunde told TorrentFreak. "It’s about the slippery slope it brings." The news comes as users of the The Pirate Bay and other popular torrent sites were hit by a wave of email warnings exposing what they had been downloading illegally.

GETTY Pirate Bay co-founder and spokesperson Peter Sunde being interviewed

These messages are being sent out by ISPs, via the new "Get it Right" campaign, in a bid to reduce the amount of content being shared on the web. Within the message is a huge amount of personal data including IP address and what files were downloaded. Copyright information and exactly when the file was accessed is also revealed plus a list of helpful advice on how to avoid downloading content in the future. The email states also states, "This is a government-backed scheme which aims to support Britain’s creative industry by informing people about legal sources of content, with the aim of reducing the illegal sharing of copyrighted material. "By sharing illegally rather than enjoying it from legitimate sources, you aren’t supporting the growth and success of the content you love."

SKY • TORRENTFREAK Torrent users have started to receive emails warning about downloading copyrighted content illegally

However, these official emails don't appear to be putting users off accessing files illegally. One regular visitor to torrent sites recently revealed to TorrentFreak that the warnings wouldn't be enough to make him stop. “I was expecting [a warning] sooner or later as a heavy BitTorrent user." He said.