Newzbin logo |
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Screenshot of main page
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| URL | www.newzbin.com |
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| Slogan | nzb search done right |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Alexa rank | 10,181 (December 2011[update])[1] |
Newzbin is a British Usenet indexing website, intended to facilitate access to content on Usenet. The site has caused controversy over its stance on copyrighted material. Access to the Newzbin.com website was blocked by BT and Sky in late 2011, following legal action in the UK by Hollywood film studios.[2][3]
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Newzbin indexes binary files that have been posted on Usenet, and offers the results through a search engine, with categories including "Movies", Music", "Apps" and "Books".[4][5] The site creates NZB files, which allow the files to be downloaded with a suitable newsreader.[6] NZB files are similar to torrent files, as they do not contain the file itself, but information about the location of the file to be downloaded.[7] The search results can be browsed free of charge after creating a user account, but access to the NZB files is restricted to premium members who pay a subscription.[8][4]
In February and March 2010, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios Productions LLLP, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Paramount Pictures Corporation, Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. took joint legal action against Newzbin in the High Court in London, arguing that the site was encouraging widespread copyright infringement by indexing unofficial copies of films on Usenet.[9]
In March 2010, Mr. Justice Kitchin ruled that Newzbin was deliberately indexing copyrighted content, observing that Newzbin had a "sophisticated and substantial infrastructure and in the region of 700,000 members, though not all premium", and that "for the year ended 31 December 2009, it had a turnover in excess of £1million, a profit in excess of £360,000 and paid dividends on ordinary shares of £415,000".[9] Chris Elsworth, the main operator of Newzbin, had said repeatedly during the case that he had no knowledge of infringement occurring on the service, and that Newzbin's categories for "CAM," "screener," "telesync," "DVD,"R5 retail","Blu-ray," and "HD DVD" did not suggest any evidence of infringement. Kitchin was critical of Elsworth, stating that his evidence disputing the claim that the site's features did not encourage copyright infringement was "simply not credible".[6][9]
On 18 May 2010, the Newzbin.com site was temporarily shut down, displaying the message "Regrettably the Newzbin website has to close as a result of the legal action against us." [10]
By 2 June 2010, Newzbin was back online, under the name Newzbin2, but using the same code and database as its predecessor, and hosted in the Seychelles.[11]
In June 2011, the Motion Picture Association applied for an injunction to force BT, the largest Internet service provider in the United Kingdom, to cut off customers' access to Newzbin.[12] On 28 July 2011, the High Court ruled that BT must block access to Newzbin, using Cleanfeed.[13] BT announced that it would not appeal against the ruling.[14] The Open Rights Group was critical of the decision, saying that it could set a "dangerous" precedent.[15]
In September 2011, Newzbin released client software which aimed to circumvent the BT blocking.[16]
On 26 October 2011 at the High Court, Mr. Justice Arnold ordered BT to block its estimated six million customers' access to the website Newzbin2 within fourteen days, the first ruling of its kind under UK copyright law.[2] Attempts to access the site from a BT IP address are met by the message "Error - site blocked".[17] Newzbin claimed that the block was ineffective, and that 93.5% of its active UK users have downloaded its workaround software. A study suggested that the workaround involved encryption to hide communication between users and Newzbin2, including the use of the Tor network.[18]
Sky has blocked access to Newzbin, stating: "We have received a court order requiring us to block access to this illegal website, which we did on 13th December, 2011."[3] Virgin Media and TalkTalk have been asked by the Motion Picture Association to block access to Newzbin, and have indicated that they would do so in response to a court order. The MPA has also asked BT to block access to The Pirate Bay.[19]
