Dutch block on pirate downloads

The Dutch government has reportedly put a ban on downloads of pirated content following a European Court of Justice ruling this week on unlawful reproductions of copyrighted works.

Previously the Netherlands required importers and manufacturers of blank data media such as CDs and CD-Rs to pay ‘fair compensation’ to copyright holders to for use of protected works.

However, in a ruling yesterday, the Court of Justice of the European Union said that “national legislation which makes no distinction between private copies made from lawful sources and those made from counterfeited or pirated sources cannot be tolerated.”