The place where breaking news , BitTorrent and copyright collide Search Torrent Freak Starting today, The Pirate Bay is no longer accessible for customers of the Irish Internet provider UPC. Subscribers who try to access the BitTorrent site get a notice informing them that it has been blocked following a court order in a case brought by Ireland's equivalent of the RIAA. The block has come as a total surprise, as the court proceedings in question appear to have been progressing under the radar. Surprisingly, UPC -- who have opposed blockades in the past -- have announced nothing. In 2010 Internet provider UPC won a landmark battle against the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) IRMA took UPC to court after it refused to implement a three-strikes scheme, but the High Court sided with the ISP ruling that there are no laws that demand website blockades or file-sharers to be cut off. This week, however, it transpires that both parties have been engaged in another court battle, one that has apparently been lost by UPC. It appears that IRMA has taken UPC to court once again, this time with a concrete demand for the company to block access to The Pirate Bay. As a result, UPC users now see the following notice (removed, see update below) when they browse to The Pirate Bay. "The Pirate Bay has been blocked. The website you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Further to a request from IRMA, the Irish Courts have ordered UPC