Sky, Vrigin Media and BT ordered to block millions from free football streams

[Len]

SOME of the UK’s biggest ISPs including Sky, Virgin Media, BT and TalkTalk have been ordered to block more football illegal streams as the crackdown on players such as Kodi continues.

Football fans planning to watch games for free this season could face a tough challenge finding online streams.

The Premier League has already announced a new crackdown which will force ISPs to block illegal content being broadcast online and now UEFA is joining with its own order.

The new judgement means UEFA will be able to ask ISPs to instantly ban any illegal streams being broadcast across the UK.

BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media are all included in the block with millions set to be hit by the ban.

This latest crackdown comes after UEFA secured a similar ban last season which blocked a swathe of streams being viewed by fans.

In the judgement Mr Justice Arnold said: “The evidence filed by UEFA in support of this application demonstrates that the First Order was very effective in achieving the blocking of access to the Target Servers during UEFA matches.

“Moreover, no evidence has been found of overblocking despite checks having been undertaken.

“The order sought by UEFA differs from the First Order in three main respects. First, it covers additional UEFA competitions. Secondly, there is an adjustment to the first criterion in Confidential Schedule 3.

“This enlarges the subset of infringing steaming servers to be blocked. Thirdly, the requirement to notify hosting providers is made subject to a short delay. This is in order to prevent the order being circumvented.

"The evidence filed by UEFA in support of the application demonstrates that there have been attempts to circumvent the First Order, and therefore this concern is a very real one.”

Along with this new UEFA block, Premier League fans face a similar banning order.

The Premier League was recently granted a victory in court that will help in their fight against online piracy.

Last year the Premier League obtained a groundbreaking injunction which compelled ISPs to block illegal live streams in real-time.

The order will affect BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.

So customers of these ISPs that are trying to watch illegal live streams of Premier League matches could be subjected to a sudden block.

Watching content online without a subscription has become hugely popular in recent years with many accessing streams via TV players such as Kodi.

It’s thought this popular player is now in over four million homes with this number growing by the year.

Kodi is not illegal but it can be customised via add-ons to allow it to show premium sports, TV and movies with paying a monthly fee.

The Premier League opener will be played on a Friday night at Old Trafford.

Arguably the must-watch match of week one will be Arsenal vs Manchester City.

The defending champions will open their campaign at the Emirates, which will see new Gunners boss Unai Emery take charge of his first Premier League game.

The Premier League 2018/19 season kicks off on August 10 2018, with the first game of the season Manchester United vs Leicester City.