India unblocks access to video, file-sharing sites

New Delhi, June 23 (ANI): India has now allowed access to video and file-sharing sites, including The Pirate Bay, which were blocked earlier over the issue of Internet piracy.

The Madras High Court's earlier ruling made Internet service providers (ISPs) block access to entire sites to prevent a single film from being shared online.

The new order was issued after an appeal filed by a consortium of ISPs, the BBC reports.

The order stated that only specific web addresses, URLs, carrying the pirated content should be blocked, but not the entire website.

"The order of interim injunction dated 25/04/2012 is hereby clarified that 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 website," the updated decision read.

"Further, the applicant is directed to inform about the particulars of URL where the interim movie is kept within 48 hours," it added.

In late March, Chennai-based Copyrightlabs, an anti-piracy firm, won a court order that made Indian ISPs and phone firms stop their customers reaching websites that were illegally sharing copies of certain Bollywood films.

The ruling led to a series of cyber-attacks by the hacker group Anonymous, which targeted a number of Indian websites, including those for government departments and India's Supreme Court. (ANI)