Acting on a complaint by Sony, the Delhi High Court is expected to come down heavily on websites which it believes are propagating the infringement of broadcasting rights of the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. 219 out more than 450 sites which are facing a ban in India, have already been blocked by Airtel. Included in the blacklist are portals like Google Docs and Google Videos.
Just as anticipated, the Mountain View giant has of course managed to free its sites from the ban by some means or the other, but smaller portals have not been so lucky it seems. Torrent sites and TV streaming sites that mostly operate from Europe are the one which are bearing the brunt of the High Court order in the most severe way.
This development comes after a complaint which was filed by Multi Screen Media (MSM) or SET India, a brand owned by Sony. As is known, the broadcast rights in India of the Brazilian sporting extravaganza rest solely with MSM, and hence it’s alleging that the concerned sites, by showing World Cup action in some way or the other, are infringing on those rights.
Moreover, SET India has also pointed out to the Delhi High Court that this is causing the government’s exchequer loss in service tax. As Medianama is reporting, out of more than 450 names included in the complaint, only 219 have been blocked by Airtel as of now. To know more about them, visit this link.
Sony might seem to be quite aggressive in its bid to stop the infringement of its licensed content, but after all, it’s the world most watched event we’re talking about here.