- India changed piracy enforcement from blocking access to freezing domains
- Registrars now face court orders along with ISPs
- Domain suspension prevents quick relaunch under identical URLs
For years, piracy enforcement in India relied largely on instructing local ISPs to block access to specific websites.
These measures often resulted in limited impact as operators could change domain names or mirror their services elsewhere.
Recent orders by the Delhi High Court have extended this approach and allow action not only against access providers but also against domain registrars.
Switch from access blocking to domain control
Under these broader “lock and suspend” directives, domain names associated with alleged pirate companies can be frozen and effectively removed from circulation.
Rather than simply restricting access in India, these orders could disable domains at the registration level, a shift that alters the technical enforcement mechanism and adds to the immediate disruption faced by affected platforms.
One of the notable features of these orders is their application to foreign domain registrars, including companies based in the United States.
By requiring registrars to suspend domains and provide registrant information, the court extends the impact beyond Indian borders, which could prevent operators from quickly restoring services under the same domain name.
According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance, more than 400 pirated domains have been completely taken down, representing billions of visits globally.
The group claims that these actions have proven exceptionally disruptive to operators of streaming and download sites, with platforms such as Animeflix, Vegamovies, Fmovies, SFlix and VidSrc among those cited as being affected.
IIPA also credits the Delhi High Court for demonstrating a detailed understanding of digital piracy and granting remedies that go beyond traditional blocking measures.
By combining ISP restrictions with registrar-level intervention, rights holders obtain both immediate shutdowns and access to identifying information for possible follow-up action.
Industry groups say these enforcement actions are changing the overall traffic pattern of online piracy, arguing that sites focused on US movies and TV now make up a smaller share of leading piracy platforms.
They also add that anime and manga piracy sites are becoming more dominant across major locations.
While correlation does not necessarily establish causation, rights holders attribute part of this shift to consistent enforcement orders.
Despite praise for the current framework, the IIPA continues to classify India as a high priority issue and recommends its placement on the Priority Watch List.
The group claims that some ISPs are slow to comply with blocking directives and calls for stricter timelines, noting that not all foreign domain registrars comply with Indian court orders, limiting their overall reach.
There are further calls to replicate the Delhi High Court model across other Indian states and to strengthen the proposed legislation with additional anti-piracy measures.
This registrar-level strategy clearly increases the pressure on website operators, although its long-term deterrent effect is likely to depend on consistent enforcement and cross-border cooperation.
Via Torrent freak
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