Pirate IPTV Blocking Order Granted to the Premier League

By iptv.legal , in News , at August 7, 2023

The Premier League has been granted a Pirate IPTV Blocking Order with the help of Sky.

In recent developments within the UK broadcasting world, both Sky and the Premier League have acquired piracy-blocking orders from the High Court, indicating a relentless drive to protect their content against unauthorized access.

While the specifics of these injunctions are yet to be disclosed publicly, the limited information available offers a glimpse into their likely implications and what this could mean for the future of piracy control.

Last week, news broke that Sky, a renowned UK pay-TV broadcaster, had successfully obtained a unique blocking injunction from the High Court in London.

This order empowers the country’s leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to prevent access to pirate IPTV services selected by Sky.

The injunction aims to shield Sky’s most lucrative football games and linear content aired on channels like Sky Atlantic from piracy.

The Premier League, a global giant in football broadcasting, was hot on Sky’s heels, securing its IPTV blocking order shortly after.

Given the previous trend, this appears to be a strategic extension of earlier obtained orders. An injunction covering the 2019/2020 season ended on July 27, 2020, but it was quickly succeeded by a “sealed order” for the 2020/2021 season.

Despite the absence of new official orders, blocking continued for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons, sanctioned by the High Court.

The latest injunction allows the Premier League to block pirate IPTV services for the upcoming 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons.

In terms of the time period, Sky’s injunction seems to cover a much shorter span, effective for August, September, October, and November 2023.

An interesting element of the Sky order is the explicit naming of six pirate IPTV services: BunnyStream, Enigma Streams, GenIPTV, CatIPTV, GoTVMix, and IPTVMain.

Sky’s most recent move isn’t the broadcaster’s first venture into ISP blocking orders. It had previously collaborated with the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in 2022.

However, in the latest July order, the broadcaster seems to have acted independently. Although the rationale behind Sky’s decision to block Premier League games – already under blocking purview – remains unclear, it may reveal more about their strategic approach in the future.

The targeting of specific services such as BunnyStream, GenIPTV, and IPTVMain illustrates a key issue in battling piracy.

With rampant copycat branding and disregard for trademarks, identifying the actual providers becomes an intricate task.

For instance, GenIPTV has been a target of rightsholders for a while, with several domains DNS blocked in Italy under orders from the Italian regulator AGCOM.

Sky’s interest in these services isn’t immediately evident, but the disproportionate use of .co.uk domains among the targets might hint at a concentrated focus on the UK market.

However, it’s essential to remember that the actual goal isn’t necessarily these consumer-facing websites, but their streaming server IP addresses, at least for the coming months.

In conclusion, these new High Court injunctions mark another crucial chapter in the ongoing battle against piracy. Sky and the Premier League’s efforts illustrate their commitment to protecting their content from unauthorized use.

As the landscape of digital piracy continues to evolve, we can expect rightsholders to employ increasingly sophisticated measures in their fight against piracy.

Time will tell how these injunctions shape the future of IPTV services and content piracy.

For more information on this story, you can view official DMCA requests and the original report on TorrentFreak.

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