Review of the CJEU Judgment on the Application of Site Blocking Order

To tackle rampant copyright piracy in the digital world, in the past decade copyright holders have relied more and more on the contribution from the private third parties. The technical powers owned by Internet Service Providers ('ISP') have never been underestimated in the fight against copyright infringers. The growing demand of ISP technical obligations has posed many legal challenges to the legislators and courts. Among various technical obligations imposed on ISP, and one of the most widely-used is to demand ISP to block copyright infringing sites. Leaning against the backdrop, in March 2014, the Court of Justice of European Union ('CJEU') has made a judgment interpreting the justification and appropriateness of site blocking orders of EU Copyright Directive under the request of Austrian Supreme Court.