Telegram ordered to block access to privacy channels

Date:
Wed, 24 Nov 2021 12:45:12 +0000

Description:
We know the blocks can be circumvented, but its better than doing nothing, claims court.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

A Portuguese court has reportedly ordered Telegram to block access to more than a dozen piracy-related channels with millions of members in total.

TorrentFreak shares that the Portuguese court was acting on a complaint
filed by Visapress , which represents several newspaper and magazine publishers, and the Portuguese film industry association, GEDIPE.

Although an encrypted instant messaging app , Telegram enables users to
create channels using which they can send messages to all their members. It
is this feature, together with Telegrams ability to host large files, thats regularly abused by pirates to share copyrighted content. TechRadar needs
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Interestingly, while the court recognized that ordering a block may not be perfect, it argued that it's better than taking no action at all. Important victory

Speaking to TorrentFreak , Carlos Eugnio, Executive Director of Visapress, hailed the order as an important victory in the battle against online piracy, though he too acknowledged that the blocking measures can be circumvented.

Changing the name of the groups and chats is a simple way that their administrators have to bypass the court order but Telegram knows this. In my opinion, this decision obliges them to remove or block access to these groups and chats, Eugnio told TorrentFreak .

Notably, the order was issued in the absence of Telegram, which couldnt be contacted through its Dubai address, despite help from the local embassy.

While Telegram didnt get the opportunity to defend itself in court, Eugnio hopes that the company will comply with the orders, else Visapress would have no choice, but to try and get Telegram blocked entirely.

Meanwhile, if you are really concerned about privacy, you should consider using one of these best VPN or proxy services .



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/telegram-ordered-to-block-access-to-privacy-cha nnels/


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