Sky faces injunction backlash

"If there is a solution, surely it has to apply to everybody." 2degrees spokesman Mat Bolland

Spark says it intends to fight any injunction attempt by Sky Television that would force the country’s four largest internet providers to block access to websites that Sky accuses of piracy.

However, rival Vodafone has not responded to questions on whether it would also oppose Sky’s injunction, with spokeswoman Elissa Downey saying only that it would ‘‘of course comply with any court order’’.

Sky and Vodafone have a close business partnership despite the Commerce Commission blocking a bid by the companies to merge earlier this year.

Sky has drafted an injunction application that would force Spark, Vodafone, 2degrees and Vocus to block their customers from accessing a list of websites that it accuses of piracy.

It has indicated overseas websites Pirate Bay and Putlocker will be on the list, which it intends to finalise later. Sky spokeswoman Kirsty Way has said Sky would file the injunction application with the High Court at Auckland ‘‘shortly’’.

Spark spokesman Andrew Pirie said the company understood the desire for copyright protection and sympathised with the challenges Sky faced in that regard.

He noted Spark also spent of tens of millions of dollars on programming rights for its Lightbox internet television service.

But Pirie said Spark intended to oppose the application, in the form in which it was currently drafted, as it did not think ‘‘internet providers should have to police the internet on behalf of third parties which have commercial interests’’.

2degrees spokesman Mat Bolland said it would consider its options with regard to the injunction bid.

He said it was concerned about the possibility that the injunction could result in its customers losing access to legitimate content.

He also queried why the draft injunction targeted only the four largest internet providers, when there were about 90 in the market.

‘‘If there is a solution, surely it has to apply to everybody,’’ he said.

Pirie also raised that concern, saying if the application was successful, it could put the country’s four largest providers at a competitive disadvantage by creating an uneven playing field.

It is understood research from IDC indicates the share of the broadband market accounted for by Spark, Vodafone, 2degrees and Vocus has slipped to 81 per cent, as consumers shop among a wider pool of providers for ultrafast broadband.

The country’s fourth-largest telecommunications company, Vocus, had already declared its hand on Wednesday by sending a draft copy of Sky’s injunction to the media and likening Sky’s actions to ‘‘North Korea’’.