Deildu.net Moves Overseas

Icelandic file sharing site Deildu.net has moved their website abroad, in response to yesterday’s court ruling ordering some ISPs to block access to the site.

Vísir reports that Deildu has taken up a new website, based in the small Atlantic islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Now called Iceland.pm, the site is the same in every other way.

As reported, Reykjavík District Court yesterday ordered ISPs Vodafone and Hringdu to block their customers from accessing the Pirate Bay and Icelandic torrent site Deildu.net. The ruling was based on repeated complaints from The Performing Rights Society of Iceland (STEF), who have contended that file sharing violates copyright and deprives artists of revenue.

Kristinn Pétursson, Director of Sales and Service at Hringdu, told Vísir the ruling is contrary to the company’s own customer service policy.

“It is clear that this is not in harmony with Hringdu’s policy regarding net freedom,” he said. “The company has placed great emphasis on the idea that our customers should have unrestricted access to the internet.”

STEF managing director Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir told reporters yesterday that the court decision marks a “milestone” on the use of torrent sites in Iceland, expressing the hope that the precedent set will make blocking torrent sites “an easier matter than having to go through a long legal process”.