French court refuses to ban torrent searches because torrent is a word

Posted on Wednesday, July 20 2016 @ 13:07 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck

A funny bit of new from France, the High Court of Paris decided search engines like Google and Bing can't be forced to block search queries that contain the word "torrent". The court argued that "torrent" is primarily a common noun, that refers to a neutral communication protocol that can be used to download legal files:

The court order goes on to point out that if the word 'torrent' was blocked, it would block access to all manner of non-piracy related sites.

[Torrent] is primarily a common noun, with a meaning in French and in English; it also refers to a neutral communication protocol developed by the company Bittorrent that enables access to lawfully downloaded files.

The requested measures are thus tantamount to general monitoring and may block access to lawful websites.

Via: BetaNews

About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.

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