A Dutch court has ruled that the country's ISPs need no longer block The Pirate Bay. The court ruled that the block was disproportionate and ineffective, and ordered (notoriously corrupt) rightsholder group BREIN to pay restitution to ISPs, including XS4ALL, an ISP with a long tradition of fighting for free speech and the open net.

In its ruling the court states that the Pirate Bay blockade was disproportionate not effective, citing the Baywatch report of the University of Amsterdam. In addition, the blockade was found to hurt the free entrepreneurship of the Internet providers.

As a result, the appeal court overturned the blocking order and ordered the Hollywood-funded anti-piracy to pay 326,000 euro ($445,000) in legal fees.

Commenting on the ruling, XS4ALL says that the verdict allows them to keep the Internet free of censorship, and the ISP will disable the blockade effective immediately.

"We are very pleased the court's verdict. This guarantees freedom of access to information. That is good for Dutch citizens, good for the Internet and good for ISPs who can continue to fulfill their important role neutrally," the company states.