Mexico’s Supreme Court Said Pirate Site Blockades Threatened Free Speech

According to Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice, broad pirate websites blockades are “disproportional”. The court pointed out that the Government cannot order Internet service providers to block websites merely linking to copyright-infringing content, because this measure will also restrict access to legitimate content on those sites and violate the public's freedom of expression. This court ruling was made in favor of the local ISP Alestra, which protested the blocking efforts of the authorities.



2 years ago, the Government’s Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) ordered Alestra to block access to the website mymusiic.com. The latter was targeted at a Mexican audience and offered music downloads, not all of which were legitimate. The Internet service provider appealed the order in court, arguing that the order was too broad, because it also restricted access to content that might be legal.

As a result, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled that the Government’s order was indeed disproportional. Although the local law allows for blocking orders, they are supposed to be targeted at specific content rather than the entire website. It was decided that the IMPI’s broad request equated to censorship and violated the constitution. The court compared the blockade with the shutdown of a printing press for publishing just one work without permission.

Now authorities or copyright owners may have very difficult time demanding similar blockades in the future. Apparently, they have to choose the way of targeting specific content – either via DMCA-style takedown notices or through more targeted blocking efforts.

Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.