Sky court order ‘ISPs must block pirate streams’
July 31, 2023
Sky has obtained a UK High Court order that will make ISPs responsible for blocking piracy services illegally streaming sports and entertainment it owns rights to.
The blocking order, granted last week, will require UK online platforms to stop people from illegally accessing streams across a range of linear channels — where viewers must tune in at a specific time to watch a programme — including Sky Sports and Sky Atlantic, reports the FT.
The order granted is similar to the one granted to the Premier League in each of the last four seasons but is designed to protect a broader range of content from across its programming.
Sky will now have the legal means to hand to shut down individual pirate sites at certain times, using a third-party group that identifies the source of illegal streams via IP addresses or dedicated servers. This is then passed to ISPs to block access to those locations on their network.
Blocking is seen to be one of the most effective tools in tackling piracy in the industry. Last season the Premier League’s UK blocking order helped to block or remove over 600,000 illegal live streams.
Sky said: “Blocking has been shown to be an extremely effective tool in tackling content piracy and is just one of a range of measures we take to protect our content and our business.”