ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd, the official broadcaster of the ICC Cricket World Cup that began on Saturday, is cracking down on cable operators that are allegedly showing the games without permission.
The Delhi high court has passed injunctions against 144 Indian cable operators, based on a case filed by ESPN. The network received an order from the court on Friday that allows it to pursue any entity illegally showing its World Cup feed. The company referred to this as a “John Doe” order, implying that it can be used against any violator.
The cable networks were found to have been broadcasting feeds received from direct-to-home (DTH) operators or from other cable firms, said N. Ganpathy, the lawyer representing ESPN.
ESPN has the rights to broadcast (International Cricket Council) events until 2015, and the World Cup is among the most prestigious of these. Television viewership assessing firm Audience Measurement and Analytics Pvt. Ltd said about 39 million people watched the opening match between hosts India and Bangladesh on ESPN and state-owned Doordarshan.
The Delhi high court has passed injunctions against 144 Indian cable operators, based on a case filed by ESPN. The network received an order from the court on Friday that allows it to pursue any entity illegally showing its World Cup feed. The company referred to this as a “John Doe” order, implying that it can be used against any violator.
The cable networks were found to have been broadcasting feeds received from direct-to-home (DTH) operators or from other cable firms, said N. Ganpathy, the lawyer representing ESPN.
ESPN has the rights to broadcast (International Cricket Council) events until 2015, and the World Cup is among the most prestigious of these. Television viewership assessing firm Audience Measurement and Analytics Pvt. Ltd said about 39 million people watched the opening match between hosts India and Bangladesh on ESPN and state-owned Doordarshan.
