DELHI HC ORDERED BARRING OF 34 ILLEGAL WEBSITES AIRING DISNEY, NETFLIX CONTENT

The Delhi High Court ordered the blocking of 34 illegal streaming websites providing pirated movies and shows. The plea was brought by production houses including Warner Bros Entertainment, Netflix Studios, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corporation, and Disney Enterprises.

Justice Asha Menon observed that illegal websites were created with the sole objective of pirating copyrighted for commercial benefits and the same could not be permitted to continue. 

The petitioners submitted that 34 websites were observed to upload pirated movies, TV programs, etc. “These websites are anonymous. The information provided in the public domain regarding the owners of the websites is incorrect or hidden behind private domain services offered by various domain name registrars.

On finding the contentions of the plaintiffs reasonable, the Court said it was virtually impossible to bring the website owners before the Court to comply with the court orders. Therefore, nine internet service providers made a party to the suit. They were directed to block access to such 34 websites within 24 hours of receiving the order passed on 21 February.

The Court further directed the Department of Telecommunications and the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to issue notifications calling upon the telecom service providers registered under them to disable access to these websites within 36 hours of receiving the order.

Earlier, the summons were issued against the defendants, following which the single bench ordered barred access to the websites. The matter was listed before the Joint Registrar on 10 May for completion of service and pleadings.