In a significant development for the fight against online piracy, the Federal Court of Australia has granted a site blocking order in the matter of Roadshow Films Pty Ltd & Ors v Telstra Ltd & Ors (NSD190/2025). The order targets 35 piracy platforms comprising 47 domain names, which at their peak drew more than 27 million monthly visits from over 2.6 million unique users and generated 117.4 million page views per month.

Justice Younan issued the decision on 9 July 2025, finding that the identified online locations infringed or facilitated the infringement of copyright works owned by major content producers including Roadshow Films, Disney, Universal, Paramount, Netflix, and Apple, among others.

The court ordered Australia’s major internet service providers — including Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vodafone, Vocus, and Aussie Broadband — to take “reasonable steps” within 15 business days to block access to the piracy sites. Approved methods include DNS blocking, IP address blocking, and URL blocking.

The sites blocked under the GSS Wave 14 action include notorious piracy hubs such as HiAnime, HydraHD, Miruro, 123Movies, Soap2day, Aniwave, and Andyday. These sites offered vast catalogues of unauthorised films and TV shows, many displaying ads that financially benefited their operators.

Justice Younan concluded that the injunction was necessary and proportionate, stating that the sites had a “primary purpose and effect” of copyright infringement and that the volume and flagrancy of the breaches justified disabling access.

The orders will remain in effect for three years and provide mechanisms for adding new domain names or URLs if operators attempt to circumvent the blocks.

This ruling continues a longstanding line of Federal Court actions supporting rights holders in curbing digital piracy in Australia under section 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

This article was originally published by Content Cafe