Authors’ rights lobby group Stichting Brein is taking legal action against telephone and cable companies UPC, KPN, Tele2 and T-Mobile for refusing to block access to the download site The Pirate Bay, the NRC reports on Friday.

In January, a court ruled internet service providers Ziggo and XS4ALL had to block access to the download site, prompting Brein to urge other ISPs to comply.
KPN spokesman Patrick Mikkelsen told the NRC: ‘KPN will not block sites at the request of a private organisation, and blocking websites is not the task of an internet service provider. We are not a policeman and we are not an investigation agency. It is that simple.’
Voluntary
Earlier this year, the four companies said they would not voluntarily block access to the download site at Brein’s request.
As an ‘independent and neutral party’, UPC does not wish to have any role in blocking access to websites, a spokesman said in January. ‘So we are not going to honour requests from private organisations.’
Ziggo and XS4ALL have stopped access from February 1. XS4ALL is owned by KPN.
The case against UPC, KPN, T-Mobile and Tele2 will be heard on April 19.