14 DAY TRIAL // After the success they recorded in Denmark with the massive blockade set against The Pirate Bay, copyright holders acquired a new target in the form of Grooveshark, a website known internationally for their music streaming services.
Accroding to TorrentFreak, the anti-piracy organization called RettighedsAlliancen revealed its intentions of going after the site, requesting a full DNS restriction just like in the case of the infamous BitTorrent site.
“When you want to offer music on the Danish market, one must have an agreement with rightholders to do so. Grooveshark does not and has been completely uncooperative,” said RettighedsAlliancen's chief Maria Fredenslund.
Even though such websites were never considered before as being illegal, now it seems that since similar paid services, such as Spotify, made their way into the country, sites that offer free services may be forced to pay or terminate any activities.
“There is a burgeoning market for online music that we believe it is necessary to support. We are in a situation where the market will die if Grooveshark continues.”
While some fully support DNS blockades against such sites, many believe that if a precedent is set, sites like Youtube and Facebook could follow since they offer similar services.
Even though Grooveshark is licensed by EMI and other labels, some claim that other record labels that own Spotify want to get rid of the competitors which would probably attract a more numerous public.
“Denmark is becoming a censoring state, much like Syria, Tunisia, China, etc. They are effectively destroying the internet. It’s becoming less and less neutral and free,” says Troels Møller, chairman of a famous piracy supporting outfit.
“If the same logic is applied throughout the internet, the next logical step would be to block Facebook, YouTube, Soundcloud and similar sites, which also host potentially infringing material until notified,” Møller concludes.