The Federal Court of Canada recently issued Canada's first
ever site blocking order in Bell Media Inc v GoldTV Services, 2019
FC 1432. The court compelled Canadian internet services providers
(ISPs) to take steps to block their customers from accessing
websites operated by pirate streaming sites GoldTV.biz and
GoldTV.ca.
The plaintiff ISPs (Bell and Rogers) first began pushing the
CRTC, Canada's media regulatory agency, to create a blacklist
of piracy sites and to require all other Canadian ISPs to block
such sites. When the CRTC declined to do so, Bell and Rogers
commenced a lawsuit in Federal Court. The Federal Court concluded
that making a Canada-wide blocking order was 'just and
convenient' in the circumstances.
