Latvian Internet Service Providers Will Block “Pirate” Sites That Provide Television Streams Without a License

Blocking will be carried out extrajudicially upon the request from the National Electronic Media Council. As a result, unauthorized parties will be blocked for an initial period of six months.

Many countries nowadays use domain blocking mechanisms as a barrier to pirated content. The latest country to undertake such activities is Latvia, which introduced new regulations on January 1, 2019, in pursue to limit unauthorized consumption. Sites and services that retransmit “audiovisual programs” in the country without the appropriate license are currently blocked by local ISPs.

According to an investigation carried out by Delfi, the state will spend over 333,000 euros in 2019 and around 280,000 euros in 2020 and 2021  for administering the blockades. The names and domains of all blocked sites will be published on the government website and will remain on the national block list for six months. (ns)

Source:  https://torrentfreak.com/new-law-will-see-pirate-tv-services-blocked-by-isps-in-latvia-190102/