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Wednesday, 24.04.2024, 21:06
Lithuania's Internet suppliers to appeal against court ruling to block linkomanija.net
"The
court ruling did not come as a surprise, it was one of the possibilities. We
are currently analyzing the ruling and it is very likely that we will take it
to a court of higher instance, as the dispute is difficult, the case can set a
precedent and have an effect on content blocking online. This includes possible
restriction of freedom of expression and speech," Audrius Stasiulaitis, spokesman for Lithuania's television,
Internet and mobile communications provider Telia
Lietuva, said in a comment to BNS.
On Monday, a Vilnius court satisfied the plea of
copyright association LATGA and instructed Internet suppliers Telia Lietuva, Cgates, Bite Lietuva, Init, Lithuanian Radio and Television Center (Telecentras), Balticum TV, Penkiu Kontinentu
Komunikaciju Centras and Splius to block
access to the portal linkomanija.net.
"We truly respect copyright and authors' right of
defending their violated interests in court, however, we still think that the
case did not answer many legal and procedural questions that the defending
party raised during the course of the hearing, and assessment of some aspects,
in our opinion, is questionable," Remigijus Seris, CEO at Telecentras, said in a comment to BNS Lithuania.
He also admitted that the court ruling could formulate
a practice of restricting the freedom of information spread online. Seris' opinion
was seconded by the Penkiu Kontinentu
Komunikaciju Centras, which operates
under the trademark Skynet. Virginijus
Jurgelevicius, CEO at Balticum TV Internet and television supplier, told BNS he disagreed that the
court ruling only applied to the few bigger suppliers of the Internet service.
The Vilnius court's ruling can be appealed to the
Lithuanian Court of Appeals within 30 days.