Jaani Riordan and Henry Edwards represented the Applicant, Sky UK, in an application for a novel form of website blocking injunction against the six largest UK Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). The order was sought under Section 97A of the of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and was the first to tackle broadcast channel piracy using a combination of dynamic and static blocks.
The blocking order sought was a significant departure from previous orders in that the dynamic block would allow Sky to choose when to apply blocking measures and for how long. In addition, the static block targeted six notorious pirate IPTV subscription services and their mirror sites.
The ISPs had been in dialogue with Sky and did not oppose the order. Meade J made the blocking order to last, at first instance, until the end of November after which it will be reviewed for renewal. An article about the Order in the Financial Time is available here.