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High court orders Sky, TalkTalk, BT, and Virgin to block illegal football streams



clippedgull

Hotdogs, extra onions
Aug 11, 2003
20,789
Near Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls
Kodi set-top boxes that allow football fans to stream live matches without a licence will be blocked by the UK's four biggest ISPs, after the High Court approved a piracy clampdown order.

Sky, BT, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media will all be required to block servers that stream Premier League football games.

"The new block will enable a proportionate and targeted restriction of content that would otherwise have been proliferated to unauthorised websites and IPTV devices," said the Premier League after it secured the court order from Mr Justice Arnold on Wednesday.

BT and Sky fling millions of pounds at footie matches to win exclusive rights to broadcast the games live. Earlier this week, BT Sport secured the exclusive rights to show UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches until 2021.

But broadcasters and the Premier League have been fretting about the rise of Kodi set-top boxes, which allow football fans to watch live streams of copyrighted material on their TVs without paying for a subscription.

The High Court granted the order to block the servers that stream the matches via the Kodi boxes under section 97a of the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act.

"We will continue working with ISPs, government, and other sports content producers to protect consumers from illegitimate services that offer no recourse when services are removed, provide no parental controls and, in many instances, are provided by individuals involved in other criminal activity," the Premier League said.

The Premier League has been involved in a number of recent legal actions against individuals who have supplied Kodi boxes to football fans seeking to watch the matches without coughing up a subscription fee to Sky or BT.

This week, a millionaire who flogged Kodi boxes to pubs for £1,000 a pop was ordered to pay £250,000 and handed a 10-month prison sentence, which was suspended for one year after 65-year-old Malcom Mayes of Hartlepool, County Durham pleaded guilty to selling the boxes illegally.
 


Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,719
Hove
This week, a millionaire who flogged Kodi boxes to pubs for £1,000 a pop was ordered to pay £250,000 and handed a 10-month prison sentence, which was suspended for one year after 65-year-old Malcom Mayes of Hartlepool, County Durham pleaded guilty to selling the boxes illegally.

No wonder some pubs are struggling if landlords get stung for a grand for a £30 Kodi box...
 






Wrong-Direction

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2013
13,395
Well that's that then ffs

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
 




Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,719
Hove
Will this have an impact on non kodi streams like cricfree and mamaHD?

Kodi doesn't have any streams of its own, it is just an interface for users to easily connect to streams / servers like circfree. So it will impact on all streaming.
 












Exile

Objective but passionate
Aug 10, 2014
2,367
Depending on how your ISP blocks a site, you can sometimes get round it just by changing your DNS settings. But yes, VPN is still a solution, but anything decent usually requires a subscription.

The ISPs involved (Sky, BT, Virgin) are going to use the tightest means than can to enforce the ruling - why wouldn't they? It's THEIR content that is being streamed. Its massively in their interests to protect their subscriptions.
 






studio150

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2011
29,555
On the Border
So if you're not with any of those 4 providers you will still have access?
Maybe a boom for a niche provider until the PL go to Court again.
The problem is I can't see anyone appealing the decesion particularly given there is insufficient time to appeal to European Courts where there may have been a chance to retain access as ultimately linking to a non UK site.
 


Wilko

LUZZING chairs about
Sep 19, 2003
9,921
BN1
The real lesson here should be for Sky, Virgin etc. Stop charging OUTRAGEOUS prices, I am sure more people would subscribe (and stay) if the prices were reasonable.
 




Exile

Objective but passionate
Aug 10, 2014
2,367
So if you're not with any of those 4 providers you will still have access?
Maybe a boom for a niche provider until the PL go to Court again.
The problem is I can't see anyone appealing the decesion particularly given there is insufficient time to appeal to European Courts where there may have been a chance to retain access as ultimately linking to a non UK site.

As per post #11 why would they WANT to appeal the ruling!?
 


Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,719
Hove
The ISPs involved (Sky, BT, Virgin) are going to use the tightest means than can to enforce the ruling - why wouldn't they? It's THEIR content that is being streamed. Its massively in their interests to protect their subscriptions.

IT cost basically. Whatever is the most cost effective and successful way to do it is likely what they'll do. If they reckon most people won't know how to change their DNS, and this is the easiest way for them to implement it, then that is what they may well choose. I honestly couldn't say, but in other countries ISPs do go down the DNS route.
 










nicko31

Well-known member
Jan 7, 2010
17,523
Gods country fortnightly
Will they block cellular / 4G also ? VPN still easy for those who know
 



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