Sky, BT and Virgin Media to block free football streams in Kodi crackdown

Football fans will find it difficult to stream matches in the new season. Some of the UK's biggest Internet Service Providers have been ordered to block the illegal streaming sites and it could affect millions of supporters.

UEFA have issued an order to companies such as BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalklTalk and EE informing them to block ISPs from illegal content being broadcast online.

The crackdown comes after the Premier League secured a similar ban last season stopping fans from watching streams.

Supporters could now have their internet connection shut off with four million people believed to have watched games through their Kodi boxs in the past.

This came after a ruling from Mr Justice Arnold

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Could fans be fined for watching football which is being illegally screened in a pub?

We know landlords are being fined, but what about punters? Could you get in trouble for simply watching?

The fact 3pm Premier League football matches are not shown on TV in the UK has seen several punters and landlords turn to alternative and legally dubious means of getting what they want.

Therefore, in recent years, we have seen pub landlords being prosecuted for streaming the games over the internet.

We have several such examples and this week another, Sam Tate of the Queens Hotel in Bootle, who was fined £15,000 after streaming a game illegally, without a licence or subscription.

The authorities are cracking down and the high-powered organisations who own the rights to the games are pushing this.

However, what does the law say about this? We know landlords are being fined, but is it illegal for fans themselves to watch the game?

The law on watching games illegally in a pub

At first glance, the relevant law appears to suggest you could be in hot water if you watch a game illegally – even if it’s on the pub’s or your neighbour’s TV .

The Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 says:

“A person who dishonestly receives a programme included in a broadcasting service provided from a place in the United Kingdom with intent to avoid payment of any charge applicable to the reception of the programme commits an offence.”

But the key words to think about are “dishonestly” and “receives a programme”.

If you turn up in a pub for a pint and there happens to be a game on that is being screened illegally, it would be very hard for anyone to accuse you of dishonesty.

And whether or not you do know the game is being shown unlawfully, you are unlikely to be prosecuted if all you have done is watch it in a pub.

The person most likely to be in trouble is whoever sold, bought, distributed, set up or switched on the streaming device or tool.

Experts at intellectual property organisation FACT believe it is this person who would be seen as “receiving the programme” in the eyes of the law.

Most prosecutions so far have focused on people who make money from the devices and tools that facilitate illegal streaming – both sellers and commercial users like pubs.

Continue Streaming

Users are most likely to continue streaming using VPN services, This might actually prove difficult for Internet Service provider to identify users activities, However VPN might not be able to protect the entire house hold uses unless they might be protecting their activities with a VPN Router but this is not available generally from the UK.