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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has recently directed the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to take action against the Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) for non-compliance of the orders passed by the Court.

A bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh also directed authorities to look into the question as to whether these DNRs ought should be permitted to continue to offer their goods and services in India, if they are not giving effect to orders of Indian Courts and not complying with the applicable laws under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the 2021 Rules.

Star India Private Limited had moved High Court against frivolous websites streaming Asia Cricket Cup matches to which Star India had exclusive rights. Thereafter, the Court passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction restraining infringement of the Star India's exclusive rights in the Asia Cricket Cup matches and associated content.

Additionally, disclosure orders were also passed against the Domain Name Registrars to disclose the details of the impugned domain names.

However, after non-compliance of the order by certain DNRs, Star India moved the High Court again.

Advocate Sidharth Chopra appearing for Star India submitted that five of the DNRs have not complied with the orders of the High Court, thereby rendering the injunction orders ineffective.

Referring to the judgment in the case of Dabur India Ltd. v. Ashok Kumar & Ors. Court reiterated that all DNRs have to abide by and give effect to orders passed by competent courts, government authorities, etc.

Advocate Apoorv Kurup appearing for DoT and MeitY argued that as and when Star India notified the departments about various infringing websites, which are involved in illegal streaming of their contents, proper blocking orders have been issued. If the Court has passed suspension and disclosure orders, the DNRs ought to have taken action in accordance with law. 

Kurup however, added that through VPN networks, these DNRs may still be accessible, thus allowing streaming/hosting/etc. of infringing content to continue.

In view of the above, the Court directed DoT and MeitY to immediately take action against 5 DNRs called NameCheap, Dynadot, Tucows, Gransy, and Sarek within one week.

Case Title: STAR INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED & ANR. Vs. MHDTV.WORLD & ORS.