Unlike many other governments around the world, a Swedish court has ruled that it cannot force ISPs to block their customers’ access to file-sharing site The Pirate Bay.

The decision came after more than a month of deliberations, according to Swedish publication TheLocal.se and safeguards citizens’ access to the site, despite it being used to distribute copyrighted material.

The case was brought by Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry to try and force ISP Bredbandsbolaget into blocking the service, as it has been in many other European countries. In the UK, for example, none of the major national ISPs allow access to the page following court orders.

However, the action was unsuccessful, at least at District Court level.

The court found that Bredbandsbolaget couldn’t be held responsible for the copyright infringement of its customers’ actions while using the service as it doesn’t constitute a crime under Swedish law, according to the report. As such, it’s also not liable for any of the fines.

While it could still be overturned by a higher authority appeals court, the group representing the copyright holders will have to pay the ISPs legal costs thus far, which is more than $150,000 according to TorrentFreak.

As a UK citizen – and therefore subject to the court-ordered bans in place here – it’s nice to see an ISP’s resistance to copyright holder demands be upheld by the court, whether or not it holds in the longer term, or other countries follow suit, remains to be seen.

➤ Swedish court: ‘We cannot ban Pirate Bay’ [TheLocal.se]

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