Delhi High Court Orders Blocking of Rogue Websites Streaming Sony’s Cricket Content

The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited in Sony Pictures v. Cricfree. The Court ordered the blocking of several websites accused of illegally streaming cricket matches and other sporting events for which Sony holds exclusive media and broadcast rights.

Justice Jyoti Singh passed an ex parte ad interim injunction on July 1, 2026, after finding that Sony had established a prima facie case for immediate protection. The Court observed, “There is no gain saying that piracy must be curbed and needs to be dealt with a heavy hand.”

The websites covered by the blocking order include cricfree.cyou, thegamesurf.com, topstream.pro, crichd.top, cracksports.me, mainstreams.io, qatarstreams.me and vipstand.cc. These platforms were accused of making Sony’s protected sports broadcasts available to users without permission.

Sony informed the Court that it owns exclusive rights to broadcast and commercially exploit several major sporting events. These include the ongoing India Tour of England for both the men’s and women’s teams, The Hundred 2026 and different Asia Cup tournaments.

Its rights also cover India’s tours of Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Ireland, the New Zealand and Pakistan tours of England, and the Asian Games 2026. Sony operates several television channels and digital platforms, including SONY TEN, SONY SIX, Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV.

According to Sony, the defendant websites repeatedly uploaded, streamed and distributed unauthorised versions of its cricket matches and other sports programmes. The company described the platforms as rogue websites because their operators had no verifiable ownership details and used privacy services to conceal their identities.

The Court considered immediate intervention necessary because the India Tour of England matches were already underway. The women’s tour had commenced on May 25, while the men’s tour began on July 1. Both competitions were expected to conclude during July 2026.

The defendant websites were restrained from hosting, communicating, screening, streaming, disseminating or otherwise making any portion of Sony’s protected sporting events available without authorisation. The restriction will remain applicable to the content covered by Sony’s exclusive rights.

Domain name registrars were directed to suspend or block the identified domains. They were also asked to disclose available information concerning the website operators, including email addresses, mobile numbers, contact details and KYC records, through sealed covers or password-protected documents.

Internet service providers were instructed to block access to the websites. The Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology were also directed to issue the necessary blocking instructions to ensure effective implementation of the order.

The Court additionally granted Sony a dynamic injunction for the duration of the sporting events. This enables the company to seek blocking of newly discovered websites that begin illegally streaming the same protected content, without requiring an entirely fresh suit against every infringing domain.