Aarhus University has signed a Code of Conduct agreement, and thus undertakes to block the services that have been ruled illegal by a court.
38,000 students, 1,800 PhD students and 8,000 employees. That’s how many users the University of Aarhus offers Internet access to, and it is therefore a very positive development that Rights Alliance, on the 20th of August entered into a Code of Conduct agreement (CoC), which means that the University blocks services that have been ruled illegal by a court.
The first CoC agreement was formed in 2013 between Rights Alliance and the Telecommunications Industry (TI) and involves among other things that TI’s members, the individual internet providers, block the Danes’ access to the convicted illegal services by e.g. implementing a so-called ‘blocking sign’, which the user encounters when attempting to access the illegal site.
Specifically, the CoC agreement with Aarhus University means that the University, on an equal footing with the public internet providers in TI and other CoC signatories, blocks access to illegal services from the university’s internet access.
The illegal services are run by criminals and undermine the livelihoods of the creative producers. It is therefore crucial that the blocking of the services is as effective as possible, and that public institutions and similar institutions, that offer Internet access, participate in the blocking effort.
The fact that an institution as large and significant as Aarhus University engages and participates in the efforts against illegal services thus helps to ensure the effectiveness of Rights Alliance’s blocking efforts against the illegal market, thereby enhancing the strength of Danish cooperation between rights holders, Internet providers and authorities.
Rights Alliance looks forward to other significant network providers and institutions also entering into similar agreements to curb the illegal market.
The Code of Conduct agreement between Rights Alliance and the Telecommunications Industry was revised earlier this year in order to keep up with developments. Read more about the audit here.