London - A Belgian Internet service provider that was ordered by a court earlier this month to block all peer-to-peer trading of copyrighted files on its network has appealed the landmark European ruling, Out-Law.com reported.

The company, Scarlet, was told to use Audible Magic's services to scan and filter copyrighted works from being traded by its Internet access customers.

The Belgian ISP Association told Out-Law.com it believes the judge in the case did not properly examine the law which governs Internet service providers closely enough, adding that the EU E-Commerce Directive shields ISPs from the actions of their subscribers -- similar to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

If it is upheld, the ruling could have ramifications both for other ISPs in Belgium and across the European Union.

SABAM, the Belgian authors' rights group that brought the initial case against Scarlet, has already pressed other Belgian ISPs to accept the court's decision.

"Before starting any legal proceedings to impose this decision on all other Belgian access providers on pain of penalty we wished to check whether they are ready to make an agreement or not," SABAM spokesman Thierry Dachelet told Out-Law.com.

At least one Belgian ISP, Belgacom, believes the ruling has not set a precedent.

"It doesn't work that way here; every case has to come up with a different result, a judge could make a different result from another judge in a new case, it is not always the same," Belgacom spokesman Jean Margot told Out-Law.com.

Related Links:
http://www.out-law.com/page-8320

http://tinyurl.com/2omvqh (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.ispa.be

http://www.scarlet.be