List of websites blocked in Belgium

Last updated

The precise number of websites blocked in Belgium is unknown. Blocking may vary from one Internet Service Provider (ISP) to another with some sites blocked by some ISPs and not by others.

Contents

Site blocks in Belgium are at this moment based on DNS Hijacking which has the possibilities of circumventing using proxies or DNS over HTTPS. Blocked websites are redirected to a multilingual StopPage

Verification

There is no official complete register of blocked sites. Blocked content includes:

Court-ordered blocked websites

These are the sites explicitly listed and blocked by court cases in Belgium.

Site name

Domain or URL

Type of site

Reason

ISPs in Court Case

Blocked By [2]

Start date

Resolution date

The Pirate Bay
  • thepiratebay.se
  • thepiratebay.org
  • thepiratebay.net
  • thepiratebay.com
  • thepiratebay.nu
  • piratebay.org
  • piratebay.net
  • piratebay.se
  • piratebay.no
  • jimkeyser.se
  • ripthepiratebay.com
Torrent IndexerCopyright [3] November 2011 [3] [5] [6] [7]
Vitae
  • vitae.co
  • vitaetoken.io
Crypto currencyPotential scam
  • Telenet
June 2021
LS Script Hub
  • lsscripthub.xyz
ExploitingCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Telenet
  • Orange
  • Voo
June 2023


Notes

  1. 1 2 It is important to note that despite the fact that only two ISPs were actually concerned in this court order, many other ISPs have implemented the same blocking without any specific court order. It is not fully known which ISPs decided to enforce this ruling or not.

Unilaterally blocked websites

These are the sites blocked by some ISPs in Belgium without any known related court-order. It is believed that these blockings are the result of pressure by the Belgian Anti-piracy Federation (BAF) who threatened ISPs with heavy legal fees should they not comply with their request. [8] [9] [10] [11] The list of ISPs below is probably incomplete as each ISP can decide individually on the matter.

Case name

Domain or URL

Type of site

Reason

Blocked by [2]

Start date

Resolution date

The Pirate Bay
  • thepiratebay.se
  • depiraatbaai.be
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Numericable
  • Telenet
  • Voo
December 2011 [12]
IsoHunt
  • isohunt.com
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Numericable
  • Telenet
  • Voo
unknown[ citation needed ]Site moved to new domain in

October 2013 [13]

KickAssTorrents
  • kat.ph
  • kickass.to
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Numericable
  • Telenet
  • Voo
August 2013 [4]
BitSnoop
  • bitsnoop.com
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Telenet
  • Voo
August 2013 [4]
ExtraTorrent
  • extratorrent.cc
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Telenet
  • Voo
August 2013 [4]
h33t
  • h33t.com
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Numericable
  • Telenet
  • Voo
August 2013 [4] Site moved to new domain in

December 2013 [14]

monova
  • monova.org
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Telenet
  • Voo
unknown[ citation needed ]
TorrentReactor
  • torrentreactor.net
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Numericable
  • Telenet
  • Voo
unknown[ citation needed ]
TorrentHound
  • torrenthound.com
Torrent IndexerCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Orange
  • Telenet
  • Voo
unknown[ citation needed ]
Yify Subtitles
  • yifysubtitles.com
Movie SubtitlesCopyright
  • Proximus
  • Telenet
February 2016
LS Script Hub
  • lsscripthub.xyz
Exploiting

Tool

Copyright
  • Proximus
  • Telenet
  • Orange
  • Voo
June 2023

EU-ordered blocked websites

These are the sites blocked because of EU mandates.

Site name

Domain or URL

Type of site

Reason

Blocked By [2]

Start date

Resolution date

Sputnik
  • sputniknews.com
News agencyPolitical [15] 2022-08-03
RT
  • www.rt.com
  • de.rt.com
  • francais.rt.com
  • actualidad.rt.com
News agencyPolitical [15] 2022-08-03

Gambling regulations blocked websites

The list of blocked gambling websites is the only official publicly available and maintained blocklist in Belgium. The list is available on the official Belgian Gaming Commission website. [16]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pirate Bay</span> Website providing torrent files and magnet links

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Movie4k.to, formerly Movie2k.to, is a user-contributed video directory for television programs and films. It is an aggregation-website acting as a search index for online videos. In May 2013, Movie2k.to was shut down by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) due to copyright infringement concerns, but shortly after reopened as Movie4k.to. It primarily serves English and German-speaking areas. However, the site is also no longer accessible in the UK, Denmark, and customers of some ISPs in Austria due to ISPs blocking the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KickassTorrents</span> Defunct file-sharing website

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">PirateBrowser</span> Tor Browser-based circumvention tool prepared by The Pirate Bay

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popcorn Time</span> BitTorrent client and media player software

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Putlocker</span> Online illegal movie streaming site network

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TamilRockers is a torrent website based in India which facilitates the distribution of copyrighted material, including television shows, movies, music and videos. The site allows visitors to search for and download copyrighted material with the help of magnet links and torrent files, which facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing. It also operates multiple Telegram channels and groups with thousands of subscribers. TamilRockers is the tenth most popular torrent site in TorrentFreak's Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2020 list.

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References

  1. "10 JANVIER 2010. - Loi portant modification de la législation relative aux jeux de hasard" [10 January 2010. - Bill to amend the law regarding games of chance]. LOI - WET. 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2014-01-17. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  2. 1 2 3 DNS Lookups on ISP DNS Servers
  3. 1 2 "Het hof van beroep, zitting houdend te ANTWERPEN, EERSTE KAMER, recht doende in burgerlijke zaken, heeft volgend arrest gewezen: inzake: 2010/AR/2541, VZW BELGIAN ANTI-PIRACY FEDERATION, afgekort VZW BAF, met zetel gevestigd te 1200 Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, Almapleine 3 bus 10 en ingeschreven in de kruispuntbank der ondernemingen onder der nr. 0427.907.283" [The Court of Appeal, sitting in ANTWERP, FIRST CHAMBER, acting in civil cases, has issued the following judgment: regarding 2010/AR/2541, VZW BELGIAN ANTI-PIRACY FEDERATION, abbreviated as VZW BAF, with registered office at 1200 Sint- Lambrechts-Woluwe, Almapleine 3 bus 10 and registered at the companies crossroads bank under no. 0427.907.283](PDF) (in Dutch). Antwerp: Hof van beroep, eerste kamer (Court of Appeal, First Chamber). 4 October 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Van der Sar, Ernesto (28 August 2013). "Belgian ISPs Quietly Expand Torrent Site Blockade". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 23 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  5. "Belgian ISP ordered to block The Pirate Bay; Telecomix and TPB Offer Workarounds". Slashdot. SlashdotMedia. 4 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  6. Baker, Jennifer (6 October 2011). "Pirate Bay encourages filesharers to dodge Belgium block". Techworld. IDG UK. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  7. Ausloos, Jef (7 December 2011). "Belgian ISPs vs Internet Freedom". EFF: Electronic Frontier Foundation. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  8. Van Mechelen, Christophe (17 November 2011), BAF Letter to ISPs (PDF) (in French), Brussels, Belgium: Belgian Anti-piracy Federation, archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2012, retrieved 16 January 2014
  9. Van Mechelen, Christophe (17 November 2011). "BAF Letter to ISPs" (PDF) (in Dutch). Brussels, Belgium: Belgian Anti-piracy Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  10. "La BAF fait chanter les fournisseurs d'accès pour étendre la censure internet" [The BAF blackmails ISPs to extend internet censorship]. NURPA (in French). Brussels: Net Users' Rights Protection Association. 5 December 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  11. Lausson, Julien (6 December 2011). "Les FAI belges invités à bloquer The Pirate Bay pour éviter les frais de justice" [Belgian ISPs invited to block The Pirate Bay to avoid court costs] (in French). Numerama. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  12. "Les fournisseurs d'accès à Internet étendent la censure, sans base légale" [ISPs extend censure, without legal basis]. NURPA (in French). Net Users' Rights Protection Association. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  13. Gibbs, Samuel (30 October 2013). "Isohunt BitTorrent search engine back online". The Guardian . Guardian News and Media Limited.
  14. Maxwell, Andy (10 December 2013). "H33T Back Online After Several Months Downtime". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  15. 1 2 Kayali, Laura (1 March 2022). "EU officially boots Russia's RT, Sputnik outlets". Politico EU. Archived from the original on 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  16. "Liste noire: Liste des sites de jeux interdits" [ Blacklist: List of prohibited gaming sites]. SPF JUSTICE: Commission des jeux de hasard (in French). Commission des jeux de Hasard. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-01-16.