Network blocking: Student criticizes Copyright Clearinghouse’s “vigilante justice”

A 17-year-old student from Germany named Damian has published a secret list showing which websites are blocked in Germany at the instigation of a private organization. The Clearinghouse for Copyright on the Internet (CUII), a collaboration between internet providers and rights holders created in 2021, has ordered the blocking of 144 sites that offer movies, music, games and sports broadcasts without the consent of the authors. Damian criticizes this approach and advocates for more transparency in dealing with internet censorship. Heise.de also ended up on 1&1 in the copyright filter.

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CUII is a type of “vigilante justice”

in one Interview with Netzpolitik The student explains his motives: he sees CUII’s work as “a kind of vigilantism” without judicial control, which in his opinion is constitutionally questionable. CUII makes decisions about Internet blocks, which can also be extended to mirror domains, without double-checking procedures. This happens without involving the Federal Network Agency. This impedes the right to free information, which is enshrined in the Basic Law.

When it came to blocking the Sci-Hub shadow library, CUII listed the blocked websites, but did not list other pages related to the site that were also blocked. Damien and other critics therefore criticize the lack of transparency and see a threat to the free Internet, since completely blocking an entire domain could also affect legal content.

with the website cuiiliste.de Damian wants to ensure more transparency. He originally designed the website to archive blocked pages. Thanks to the leaked CUII blocking list, he is now publishing the addresses of blocked domains there. A script regularly checks whether the list is up to date. Damian also shows how the block can be bypassed by suggesting alternative DNS servers to bypass CUII blocks.

Significance to the scientific community

The CUII blacklist also has an impact on the scientific community. For example, the Science-Hub platform is blocked, which makes accessible scientific works, which are often state-funded but offered by publishers at high prices. This highlights an area of ​​tension between copyright protection and free access to knowledge.

(Mac)