India's piracy ruling to block only links, not sites

India's Madras High Court in the state of Tamil Nadu has ruled that its Apr. 25 order against Internet piracy should not be used to block out entire Web sites, but only specific Web links.

An appeal filed by a group of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to the court on Jun. 15 clarified that the content owners should give ISPs the specific Web links through which copyright materials were shared so that ISPs can block them, The Times of India reported on Friday.

"The interim injunction is granted only in respect of a particular URL where the infringing movie is kept and not in respect of the entire Web site. Further, the applicant is directed to inform about the particulars of th URL where the interim movie is kept within 48 hours," the high court, in its latest order stated.

This came after film producers went to various courts to obtain such orders against those who may pirate their films and prevailed on ISPs who blocked Web sites, noted the news daily. This has generated resentment among Web users and protests by Internet activists, it added.

Last month, hacktivist group Anonymous had also hacked India power company AP Power Generation in a fight against the country's Internet censorship. India had also remained on the 2012 priority watch list of U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) for intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement issues, ranking sixth overall.