UEFA and Sky took the three people behind Sportingstreams.com to
the High Court where the judge upheld their claim that the site's
re-broadcasting of games was unauthorised and breached copyright
legislation.
The case was so clear that Judge Justice Lindsay granted a
summary judgement to avoid a full trial. The trio behind the
website offered no defence in the case and did not turn up to
court.
The website charged subscriptions of users who then watched
football and cricket matches via the site. The website has been
replaced by a page of text and those behind it say that no refunds
will be offered to subscribers.
"Due to legal actions and current legal proceedings the website
will be closed for the foreseeable future," said a statement on the
site. "This was not our choice but we cannot resist the onslaught
any longer."
"Unfortunately we will not be able to offer any refunds on
memberships as our payment account has also been taken away," said
the statement.
Lindsay said that a summary judgement was appropriate because
"the defendants have no real prospect of successfully defending the
proceedings."
"There is reference [in the claimants' submissions] to a good
number of warnings and invitations sent to the defendants that they
should cease and desist from their activities but with, so far at
any rate, no success," said Lindsay in his judgment.
"Indeed, the claimants say that the defendants have indicated a
cynical disregard for UEFA's copyrights and a determination to
continue infringing in order to make substantial profits for
themselves," he wrote.
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