Most of the major broadband ISPs in the United Kingdom (BT, Sky Broadband, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, EE and Plusnet) have just been handed a new court order to block an Israel TV video streaming site, which was found to have been facilitating internet copyright infringement (piracy).
At present such blocking orders, which in the UK flow from Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA), aren’t cheap to bring but have over the past 15 years or so become very common. Hundreds of websites have been blocked through this approach (thousands if you include their associated proxies and mirrors), which usually include illegal file sharing (P2P / Torrent), streaming sites, Sci-Hub and those that sell counterfeit goods etc.
In this case, the UK and international law firm, Penningtons Manches Cooper, which was acting on behalf of United King Film Distribution (1990) Limited, Keshet Broadcasting Limited, Hot Telecommunications Systems Limited and Reshet Media Limited, were successful in securing a blocking injunction against the providers.
The injunction itself, which was granted by Richard Smith J, targets an unlicensed website called Israel TV (inc. including various associated domains) that had been live-streaming, as well as offering a large unlicensed collection of recorded content, the claimants’ broadcasts and content without their permission.
The judgement itself was handed down after a hearing on 23rd January 2025 and the ISPs have since introduced the new block. Such restrictions don’t always stop the targeted websites, and indeed they may even help to advertise their existence. Naturally, those who actively engage in internet piracy will no doubt still be able to circumvent the restrictions by using all sorts of different approaches.