Internet providers ordered to block 15 torrent, streaming sites by Federal Court

[Len]

Fifteen piracy websites will be blocked in Australia after the Federal Court gave the green light to Foxtel's latest bid to stop its shows being downloaded for free.

The pay TV company brought court action against Telstra, Optus, TPG and 46 other internet service providers (ISPs) in March, seeking to block access within Australia to the piracy sites which use 28 different addresses.

Foxtel said the sites – including 123hulu, HDO and ETTV – infringe on its copyright by offering free episodes of shows including Game of Thrones and prison drama Wentworth.

On Tuesday, Federal Court justice John Nicholas agreed, ordering the sites be blocked for a period of three years, after which Foxtel can apply to have the orders extended.

ISPs must take "reasonable steps to disable access" to the list of websites within 15 business days and redirect internet users to a page advising the site has been blocked because it facilitates copyright infringement.

Foxtel will pay the compliance costs of blocking the websites, calculated at $50 per domain name.

In his judgment, Justice Nicholas said each website appeared to be principally designed to provide copyrighted material free of charge, demonstrating a "flagrant disregard by the operators of the rights of copyright owners".

"The only persons likely to be interested in communicating with the target online locations are those who seek instant access to movies and television programs without having to pay for it," Justice Nicholas said.

The latest case comes after Foxtel and film studios successfully blocked Australian access to dozens of piracy sites including The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, IsoHunt and Putlocker in three cases in 2016 and 2017.

The 15 sites blocked on Tuesday are HDO, HDEuropix, 123Hulu, Watch32, Sockshare, NewEpisodes, 1Movies, 5Movies, WatchFreeMovies, SeriesTop, ETTV, MagnetDL, Torrent Download, Torrent Room and Torrents.

In a Federal Court hearing on Monday, Foxtel's barrister Justine Beaumont said blocking the sites was a "continual game of catch-up".

The newest batch of blocked sites includes torrent providers, streaming services and proxy sites which allow users to access other sites which were previously blocked.

Virgin, AAPT and Telstra previously filed documents with the court to indicate they do not contest the orders sought.

In a statement, a Foxtel spokesperson said the blocked sites "enable people to illegally stream shows like Wentworth, A Place to Call Home, Picnic at Hanging Rock and more, depriving everyone involved in the production of these programs from being properly rewarded for their efforts in creating them".