Copenhagen, 27 May 2010 – Today The Danish Supreme court in Copenhagen ruled that Telenor is obliged to block their customers’ connection to the illegal Swedish piracy service The Pirate Bay.

Previously both the bailiff’s court and The High Court have reached the same result. It has been almost 2½ years since right holders within the movie-, music- and book industry asked the bailiff’s court to order Tele2 to block The Pirate Bay. Since then Tele2 has been acquired by Telenor,Denmark’s second largest Internet service provider (ISP).

In its ruling The Supreme Court emphasizes the importance of “thelarge-scale infringement of intellectual property rights” that takes place through The Pirate Bay website, and stresses that the right holders have a “substantial interest that is important to protect” in bringing this infringement to a halt. Hence, the Supreme Court rules that the preconditions of imposing the blocking as stated in The Danish Administration of Justice Act are met.

The lawyer who conducted the case at The Supreme Court representing the right holders Johan Schlüter says: - “The court’s decision is commendably clear. It confirms that the ISP’s are part of the solution to the piracy problem. The decision is an important step in the right holders’ efforts to create an efficient market for movies, music and literature on the Internet. It is crucial to the continued growth and success of the legal services that the illegal services are restricted as much as possible.”

The right owners expect the other Danish ISP’s to follow the decision of the Supreme Court and block their customers’ access to The Pirate Bay.