Italy Blocks Pirate Bay File-Sharing Site

August 14, 2008 1:42 p.m. EST

Rome, Italy (AHN) - Italian prosecutors received a court order instructing Internet providers to block access to The Pirate Bay, a file-sharing Web site based in Sweden. The court's ruling follows complaints by recording companies.

Prosecutors are also investigating the four Swedish creators of the site. The Pirate Bay allows users to share copyrighted content, including films and music.

In responseto the Italian court decision, The Pirate Bay operators Thursday provided instructions to millions of users how to bypass the roadblocks.