In a significant legal victory,Sky has obtained a court order from the UK High Court that will compel internet service providers to block piracy services responsible for illegally streaming its highly popular football games and blockbuster TV programmes.

The ruling mandates that UK online platforms must take measures to prevent unauthorized access to streams across various scheduled channels, including the esteemed Sky Sports and Sky Atlantic.

With the rise of internet TV media boxes capable of illicitly streaming content, the issue of piracy has escalated in recent years. These media boxes are equipped with software that enables the streaming of channels from around the world, Financial Times reported.

The court order granted to Sky goes beyond previous ones obtained by the Premier League in the last four seasons, as it encompasses a wider scope, safeguarding a diverse array of content in its programming.

To effectively combat piracy, Sky now has the authority to disable individual pirate sites at specific times, with the assistance of a third-party group that identifies the source of illegal streams through IP addresses or dedicated servers. This crucial information is then relayed to internet service providers, who are required to block access to these locations on their networks.

Blocking has proven to be one of the most potent tools in the ongoing battle against piracy within the industry. Last season, the Premier League’s UK blocking order successfully curtailed or removed over 600,000 illegal live streams.

The court-issued injunctions will empower Sky to enforce real-time blocking of domains, sites, and servers by internet service providers.

A spokesperson from Sky expressed full support for the court’s decision, highlighting its potential to significantly curb the proliferation of pirated Sky content.

The spokesperson stated, “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.”

In parallel with this legal action, law enforcement agencies have intensified their efforts to crackdown on criminal operations that run illegal streaming networks. Recently, five British men were sentenced to jail for up to 11 years due to their involvement in selling illegal IPTV “sticks” used to operate an unlawful streaming network dedicated to Premier League games.

With the court order in place and a determined effort from authorities, the battle against illegal streaming is gaining momentum, bolstering the defense of intellectual property rights and the content industry.