14 DAY TRIAL // Blocking off access to pirate sites is a violation of free speech, ruled the Mexican Supreme Court.
Despite many decisions made by courts all over the world that support pirate site blockades, the Mexican Supreme Court disagrees.
The Supreme Judges have said the government can't order Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block websites that link to content that infringes on copyright because that would also restrict access to perfectly legal content shared on those platforms and, therefore, violate people's freedom of expression. The decision comes after local ISP Alestra asked the Court to make a decision that would apply throughout the country.
It all started back in 2015 when the Mexican government ordered Alestra to block access to mymusiic.com, a site that was targeted at a Mexican audience and offered music downloads, TorrentFreak reports. As it usually happens, some of the content on the site was not shared there legally.
A lengthy battle
Alestra appealed the order in court, saying it was too broad, restricting access to music that may not infringe on copyright.
The Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the order is disproportional. While the local law allows for blocking orders to be issued, they have to be targeted at specific content, not entire websites.
“Although such [blocking] measures are provided for by the law and pursue a legitimate purpose, the fact is that they do not meet the requirements of necessity and proportionality since the restrictions on the right of freedom of expression must refer to specific content,” Minister Alberto Perez Dayán said.
He added that generic bans on the operation of certain websites may violate the human right of freedom of expression.
Now that the Supreme Court has spoken, authorities and rightsholders will have a tough time in Mexico as they seek similar measures in the future. From now on, they'll have to target specific content.