The Premier League Wants to Block Live Pirate Streaming in Ireland

• The Premier League now targets Irish live sports feeds, asking for an ISP imposed blocking order.
• The United Kingdom High Court will most probably issue a blocking order, and ISPs will not object it.
• The Irish police are reportedly investigating the matter, and several prolific pirates have been already located and identified.

The Premier League has filed an application at the High Court that asks for a pirate streaming blocking order to be given to Irish-serving ISPs (Internet Service Providers) such as Virgin Media, Vodafone, Eircom/Eir, and Sky. This is the exact same thing that the Premier League achieved almost a year ago for UK ISPs, with an order issued by the UK High Court again. This newest request is expected to be granted a relevant order by the court, so the Irish sports pirates will soon face trouble.

Some of the ISPs that are involved in Ireland are the same entities that complied with last year’s order in the UK, so having them express any kind of objection is very doubtful. The Irish have been increasingly turning to pirate IPTV packages that are devoted to sports, and the Premier League games in particular, so the holders of the broadcasting rights would definitely do something about it sooner or later. After all, illegal IPTV streaming is currently under attack in the UK, with Kodi addon creators being raided by the police, and three IPTV service operators getting arrested and receiving custodial sentences of a total of 17 years in prison.

According to what the Irish Times reports based on information received by unnamed sources, the Premier League is already conducting investigations that have unveiled the identity of several pirates that lie in Irish territory. That is suppliers of the IPTV streaming services, not the regular users who just want to access the sports content cheaply. In this context, the ISPs will not only block the streams in real-time and without requiring a takedown notice from the Premier League but will also hand over the identification details like the IP addresses to the broadcasting rights owner. Ireland’s national police body is reportedly working together with the Premier League on that part, so raids or at least arrests that may concern offenses that were carried out some time ago will be entirely possible and also probable soon.

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