Justice Winfrida Okwany of the High Court of Kenya had ordered telecommunications companies; JTL and Safaricom to pull down 141 streaming sites as per section 35B (1)of the Copyright Act that was allegedly infringing Multichoice Kenya’s copyright. The order was made back in the year 2020 however, Safaricom has gone to the Court of Appeal requesting another hearing. The company argues that the move by Multichoice would lead to a backlash by the customers and also it would push other media companies to sue.
Section 35B(1) states that “A person whose rights have been infringed by content to which access is being offered by an Internet Service Provider may request by way of a takedown notice that the Internet Service Provider remove the infringing content.”
The internet speeds in Kenya are fast and quite affordable hence many Kenyans prefer streaming these sites since they are free compared to paying for subscriptions so as to access sites such as Supersport.
Resources:
Infringement of Multichoice Kenya’s Rights