US Court Blocks Pirate Sites That Don't Exist Yet in Landmark TelevisaUnivision Ruling

A U.S. federal court has granted Mexican broadcaster TelevisaUnivision (TU) an injunction that covers pirate services and content not yet created at the time of the ruling. It is one of the broadest anti-piracy orders ever issued by an American court, according to TorrentFreak.

The case initially targeted five IPTV operations: Thunder TV, Sunset TV, Pop TV, Kaelus TV, and Tele Latino, along with their alleged operators. TU argued these services threatened its business. The broadcaster holds World Cup broadcasting rights for sixteen Latin American territories, and its license with FIFA requires keeping the Mexican signal from reaching the United States. The pirate services, TU claimed, put it in breach of that contract, exposing it to "termination and forfeiture of hundreds of millions of dollars in payments."

Judge Kathleen Williams granted the temporary restraining order on June 5, one day after the case was filed, without hearing from any defendants. The initial order barred defendants from infringing TU's copyrighted works, including telenovelas and other programming, and from using its trademarks, including content tied to its licensed World Cup broadcast. It also targeted third parties acting "in active concert," including ISPs, hosts, CDNs, domain registrars, app stores, ad networks, social platforms, search engines, and payment processors. They were ordered, at TU's request and with notice, to disable listed domains and IP addresses and unmask those behind them.

The most striking feature is that the injunction is written to include things that do not yet exist. It is not limited to TU's current catalog or World Cup rights; it covers infringement of "any copyrighted works or broadcasts that Plaintiffs may in the future produce, license, or acquire rights to transmit." In other words, it applies to future copyrights that did not exist when the order was signed.

During the proceedings, the list of domains expanded from five to more than 500 names. Cloudflare, GitHub, and a Mexican bank are now required to comply. The order also demands intermediaries block services that have not launched yet and prevent distribution of content that may only be created in the future. Legal experts note this wording sets a precedent, giving rights holders a tool to fight hypothetical violations without returning to court for each new case.