Ban Websites Pirating Movies: Delhi HC Orders Internet Providers

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed internet service providers (ISPs) to block websites like tamilrockers, eztv, katmovies and limetorrents that allegedly engage in unauthorised streaming and distribution of movies and TV series of production houses like Warner Bros, Universal and Netflix.

In an interim order, Justice Sanjeev Narula directed the ISPs to block access to all the URLs and IP addresses of these websites, news agency PTI reported.

Uniform resource locators (URLs) are address of a resource, like a website, on the internet.

The court also issued directions to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Information Technology to suspend the domain name registration of the websites infringing the copyright of production houses and to issue notifications asking internet and telecom service providers to block such online sites.

The interim directions came on the plea of US-based entertainment company Warner Bros. It contended that these sites were hosting, streaming and making available to the public its original content, as well as that of others like UTV, Star, Paramount, Universal and Netflix, without any authorisation.

The court also restrained the websites from “hosting, streaming, reproducing, distributing, making available to the public and/or communicating to the public, or facilitating the same, in any manner, on their websites, through the internet any cinematograph work/content/programme/ show in relation to which plaintiff (Warner Bros) has copyright”.

After hearing Warner Bros, the court said a prima facie case was made out that if an interim order was not passed, irreparable harm or injury would be caused to the company.