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Popular stream mining site Yout.com finds itself blocked by Peruvian ISPs again. Just a few months ago, the service protested against a similar blockade. The government is not easily defeated, however, as it has simply requested another temporary blockade, pending an investigation. And although the official deadline has passed, getting the blockade lifted is easier said than done.
When “pirate” sites are blocked by ISPs, operators often get creative and find ways around these restrictions.
In Peru, the opposite seems to be happening. After feed mining portal Yout.com challenged a local blockade, authorities simply blocked it again.
For the full context, you have to go back more than a year. Last spring, local ISPs were ordered to block Yout.com and other feed-scraping sites as a precaution, while authorities conducted their investigations for possible legal action against the sites.
Not-So-Temporary Blocking Injunction
The temporary blocking injunction came at the request of the government agency INDECOPI, which works closely with rights holder groups such as IFPI. In the request, he argued that the stream-fetching site allows users to download content from YouTube without permission.
Although the blockade was granted, it was only meant to be temporary. According to the injunction, the blockade was valid for 30 days. The authorities could use this delay to initiate formal proceedings, after which the measures could possibly be extended.
However, almost a year has passed without an official follow-up from INDECOPI. Meanwhile, ISPs continued to block Yout.com.
To resolve the situation, Yout hired a local lawyer to appeal the injunction to Peru’s Competition and Intellectual Property Court. The court confirmed that there is no legal obligation for ISPs to block Yout. Despite this finding, the court could also not order the ISPs to unblock the site.
Unblock and reblock
To resolve the status quo, Yout had to contact INDECOPI and ISPs, urging them to lift the expired measures. That’s exactly what Yout’s lawyer did a few months ago, but soon after the authorities reacted with a surprise decision.
On May 31, INDECOPI obtained a new preliminary injunction. This time, Yout is listed along with dozens of other targets. They include pirate sites such as Anineflv, Cuevana, and Cinetux, as well as NoTube and other stream extraction services.
This injunction was again temporary in nature, but like last time, ISPs continued to block sites after it expired.
Expired again, but still blocked
Yout’s Peruvian lawyer informs TorrentFreak that they have contacted INDECOPI with a request to lift the precautionary measures, as the injunction is no longer valid.
“In this case, the defense has requested that it be appropriate to declare the expiry of the provisional measure issued by [the injunction] since Indecopi, YET, did not initiate sanction proceedings within 30 days. We are currently awaiting Indecopi’s response.
If the blocking measures are finally lifted, nothing in theory prevents the authorities from requesting a new preliminary injunction. This means that this reverse “whack-a-mole” may continue for some time.
As of now, all copyright infringement allegations against Yout in Peru have not been investigated by the courts. No formal procedure has been launched and the site has not been declared illegal.
“There is no sanction from the Peruvian government against Yout.com, and the Peruvian government has never initiated any sanction proceedings against the site,” Yout’s lawyer tells us.
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