A TV network operated by Sony has obtained a sweeping High Court injunction compelling Indian ISPs to block hundreds of 'pirate' sites. However, in addition to sites like The Pirate Bay, for the second time in a month Sony affiliates have sucked in innocent victims including several Google services and Kim Dotcom's Mega.co.nz.

With the World Cup now heading to its semi-final stages, FIFA and its distribution partners are pushing hard to stem the tide of unauthorized content.

While FIFA has even gone as far as taking action against Twitter avatars, news today shows that its affiliates are also prepared to disrupt the activities of hundreds of sites and countless millions of Internet users if that means protecting their copyrights.

The development follows legal action initiated by Multi Screen Media PVT Ltd, a Sony Entertainment Television subsidiary in India. Earlier this year the company obtained a license from FIFA to broadcast the 2014 World Cup to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Of course, content is now being made available elsewhere without permission, so the company has decided to do something about that.

In a statement to the High Court in Delhi, counsel for Multi Screen Media explained that “various websites are indulging in hosting, streaming, providing access to” infringing content causing substantial loss of revenue not just for the company, but also to the government due to lost tax on TV subscription fees.

The list of ‘infringing’ sites supplied to the High Court is huge – 479 sites in all – and contains well known sharing sites including The Pirate Bay, torrent storage site Torrage, 1337x, Demonoid, and dozens of file-hosting sites.

Quite amazingly, however, the list also contains entirely legitimate sites including Google Docs, Google Video, Google URL shortener Goo.gl, and Kim Dotcom’s Mega.co.nz. None escape the criticism of Sony or the High Court.

“Learned counsel for the plaintiff submits that many of the websites [in the list] are anonymous in nature and it is virtually impossible to locate the owners of such websites or contact details of such owners. It is further submitted that many of these Rogue Websites also hide behind domain privacy services offered by various domain name Registrars,” the judge wrote in his decision.

“[Websites] listed below, or any other website identified by the Plaintiff are restrained, from in any manner hosting, streaming, broadcasting, rebroadcasting, retransmitting, exhibiting, making available for viewing and downloading, providing access to and / or communicating to the public, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, updating and/or sharing (including to its subscribers and users), through the internet, in any manner whatsoever,” he continued.

With that Judge V. Kameswar Rao issued an order for the country’s ISPs to block the 479 sites in question – Google’s included – plus “such other websites that may subsequently be notified by the Plaintiff to be infringing of its exclusive rights.”

While the Judge granting a blocking order against Google is bad enough, one has to question how the company’s services ended up on the High Court application in the first place. That is the responsibility of local anti-piracy company Markscan, who compiled the list for Multi Screen Media. Markscan were featured in a TorrentFreak article last month when they sent dozens of erroneous takedown notices to Google, again on behalf of a Sony company.

“We want to assure you that we deploy technology, in addition to best efforts of our teams, to ensure that we do not impact legal content on yours, or any other website,” they told us at the time. Users of Google Docs, Goo.gl and Google Video may beg to differ.

While some local ISPs have already initiated blockades, Google told Indian news outlet Medianama that there had been “no interruption of our services mentioned in the order.”

The High Court order was issued June 23, alongside an instruction to distribute the summons to the defendant sites by July 22, 2014.