Ahead of 2.0 release, Madras HC directs 37 ISPs to block 12,000 websites

Ahead of Rajinikanth-starrer '2.0' release on Thursday, the Madras High Court has directed 37 internet service providers (ISPs) to block over 12,000 websites that exhibit pirated versions of Tamil movies.

The list includes more than 2,000 websites operated by 'TamilRockers.'

Justice M Sundar passed the order on Wednesday while allowing a plea moved by Lyca Productions Private Limited, the movie's producer.

When the plea came up, Lyca's counsel Vijayan Subramanian produced an extensive list of 12,564 illegal websites.

The counsel contended that when 'TamilRockers' website is blocked, it immediately creates mirror websites by changing an insignificant part of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or any other extension, and are therefore able to reinstate the infringing material with minimal effort.

Subramanian produced a probable list of extension of 'TamilRockers' and sought an injunction against all such websites.

According to Lyca, its latest venture is '2.0', starring Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson and others. The movie has been directed by S Shankar.

The producer has invested substantial sums of money in the production of the film and it is scheduled to be released in more than 7,000 screens in India and worldwide.

including Chennai, on November 29.

The movie is releasing in more than five languages, including Mandarin in China.

The trailer for the promotion of the film has been released. The official trailer, published on 'YouTube', has already garnered 13,089,498 views, the counsel said.

While the company has acquired all exploitation and distribution rights including theatrical and music, besides other rights, including TV, internet, digital and home video exclusively, under the Copyright Act, it apprehended that such illegal websites might exhibit pirated versions of the film soon after its release.

According to the counsel, the web pages and websites which provide such links are multifarious and are disbursed all over the globe.

Such websites are allowed to be viewed in India through various internet service providers such as the 37 listed in the plea, the company contended.