The judicial system of the United Kingdom has made the first official legal blow to the Bittorrent-based movie-streaming service Popcorn Time by restricting access to the original client of the freeware app.
On April 28, the UK High Court ruled that five of the country’s biggest broadband providers began blocking five websites offering the streaming service for download. These broadband providers include Sky, BT, EE, TalkTalk, and Virgin, reports Engadget.
Following the court decision, the anonymous developers of Popcorn Time publicly expressed their disappointment with the UK judicial system and felt sorry for the citizens of England for trampling on the people’s basic rights like the freedom of speech and net neutrality being revoked so easily.
The developers expect to see some protest actions from the citizens of UK against the current order curtailing Popcorn Time.
They added that the move was pretty predictable and that they are also positive that it is not the last of it. The developers assured fans of the streaming service so that they will be working full force now to make Popcorn Time fully p2p. They also said that the software will not be depended on for any domain or centralized server to operate.
Questionable legality
Popcorn Time has been under fire as of late because of its questionable legality and also because film studios are really hot on its tail and have been trying to block the service for quite some time now.
However, the shift to the Bittorrent-based distribution has allowed Popcorn Time to continue even as Hollywood film companies scramble to find a way to stop it.
With its continued provision of movie-streaming service to users, Popcorn Time has actually painted a large target on its back, particularly from film studios.
As a result of the UK High Court ruling, media will all be forced to comply as much as they have with popular Bittorrent websites like ThePirateBay even if those blocks have later on been rendered as useless.
Pirated content
Judge Briss cited the real motive of Popcorn Time is used in order to watch pirated content on the internet and it is becoming obvious that it is the app’s purpose. The judge said that no one really uses Popcorn Time to watch lawfully available content.
None from the existing internet service providers in UK opposed the order of the High Court. But accordingly, it is just a matter of time until popcorntime.io, flixtor me, popcorn-time se, and isoplex.isohunt.to are also blocked.
But since Popcorn Time uses p2p protocols, those already using the software should not experience any issues.
It can also be recalled that when torrent sites like Kickass Torrents and EZTV were curtailed in the UK, hundreds of websites came out in their places and proxy sites helped users evade the blocks on original websites.