Premier League can now block illegal Kodi football live streams

Sky, BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk will have to block customers’ access to games accessed through third-party add-ons

Streams can also be blocked mid-game (Getty Images)

The Premier League has obtained a new court order to block illegal streams fed to Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) boxes running Kodi.

It means that internet service providers (ISPs) including Sky, BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk will have to block customers’ access to streams provided by third-party add-ons on Kodi at the request of the Premier League.

This can also be done mid-game, according to a report in Bloomberg.

“For the first time this will enable the Premier League to disrupt and prevent the illegal streaming of our matches via IPTV, so-called Kodi, boxes,” said Dan Johnson, a spokesman for the Premier League.

The High Court injunction, which is yet to be published, was approved by Judge Richard Arnold.

TorrentFreak suggests that the Premier League is also planning a brand new targeted approach to stream blocking, whereby it aims to shut down pirated content at its source, rather than focusing on the sites offering streams.

“This will enable us to target the suppliers of illegal streams to IPTV boxes, and the internet, in a proportionate and precise manner,” reads a Premier League statement.

“The new block will enable a proportionate and targeted restriction of content that would otherwise have been proliferated to unauthorised websites and IPTV devices.”

The UK’s biggest ISPs recently started sending “educational messages” to customers recorded using their web connection to share pirated content.

They've also started logging how many times customers share pirated content, suggesting that repeat offenders will be monitored.