I&B Ministry
Space TV issue inches towards climax?
MUMBAI: The ministry of company affairs has not come out openly in support of the information and broadcasting ministry’s contentions on Space TV.
Preferring to lob the ball back in the I&B’s court without giving speicific directions, the former has, however, maintened that a clause on affirmative rights (to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a board decision) of the minority shareholder in the joint venture could be contentious.
In its comment sent to the I&B ministry (reference: Serial No.R pages 1275/C; File 3/20/2005/CL-IInd), company affairs ministry has maintained except Section 2, dealing with affirmative rights of the minority shareholder, other issues raised by the I&B ministry don’t cut much ice.
Space TV is a 80:20 joint venture between the Tatas and the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star group.
With this, government sources pointed out, ministry of company affairs has submitted its comments on one of the two DTH applications, while it grapples with that of Sun TV’s, which too has come under the government scanner.
Interestingly, various issues raised by the I&B ministry relating to Space TV and Sun’s DTH applications were not brought up when pubcaster Doordarshan started its DTH service.
Technically speaking, some aspects of the DTH guidelines should have brought DD Direct Plus too under a cloud, including the fact that the service is wholly run and managed by a broadcaster, Doordarshan.
Meanwhile, ministry of company affairs does agree that the clause relating to the affirmative rights of Star Group – amounting to almost veto power regarding board decisions of Space TV – can be questioned.
According to Indian laws, a shareholder needs to have at least 26 per cent holding in a joint venture to have veto rights on board decisions. The affirmative rights clause in the Space TV shareholders’ agreement is similar to this clause wherein the minority shareholder has the right to accept or refuse board decision with only 20 per cent stake.
The application of Space TV, envisaging setting up a Rs 16 billion DTH project in India, has been wandering around in the corridors of power in search of a clearance and letter of intent for over eight months now.
It is also learnt that Space TV has given an undertaking to the I&B ministry — through voluminious clarifications sent earlier — it would inform the government if changes in the shareholders’ agreement take place.
I&B ministry could not be contacted for comments on the Space TV issue today despite repeated attempts.
I&B Ministry
India turns up the heat on piracy, orders Telegram to axe 3,142 channels and blocks 800 websites
New legal teeth, nodal officers and notices to intermediaries signal that the government is done playing nice with copyright thieves
NEW DELHI: India’s war on film piracy just got significantly more aggressive. The government has ordered Telegram to remove 3,142 channels distributing pirated content, blocked access to around 800 websites through internet service providers, and put the full weight of freshly sharpened legislation behind the crackdown. The message from New Delhi is unambiguous: the free ride for copyright thieves is over.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan spelled out the legal architecture to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said, now contains specific provisions designed to make piracy a genuinely painful proposition. Sections 6AA and 6AB prohibit unauthorised recording and transmission of films, with violations attracting a minimum of three months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. At the upper end, offenders face three years behind bars and fines of up to 5 per cent of a film’s audited gross production cost — a figure that, for a big-budget production, could run into crores.
The legislation also gives the government powers to act against intermediaries hosting infringing content, by notifying them under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and compelling takedowns and blocking actions. Under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries are legally required to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving government notice or court orders. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, add a further layer of obligation, requiring platforms to ensure their services are not used to host or distribute content that violates copyright or proprietary rights.
To put enforcement into practice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established a dedicated institutional mechanism, complete with nodal officers to receive complaints. Copyright holders, authorised representatives or individuals can report piracy through a prescribed format, after which the government issues notices to intermediaries to disable access to infringing links.
The most headline-grabbing action came on 11 March 2026, when Telegram was formally notified under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and directed to remove and disable 3,142 channels found to be distributing unauthorised content belonging to OTT platforms, content owners and producers. The complaints that triggered the action came from OTT platforms including JioCinema and Amazon Prime Video, which alleged that copyrighted films, web series and other material were being shared on the platform on a massive scale. Telegram’s architecture, with its large file-sharing limits and capacity for user anonymity, has made it a favoured vehicle for exactly this kind of large-scale piracy.
The Telegram action sits within a broader pattern of escalating enforcement. Just days before the Lok Sabha statement, the ministry banned five OTT platforms for streaming obscene content: MoodXVIP, Koyal Playpro, Digi Movieplex, Feel and Jugnu. In July 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of 25 OTT platforms accused of streaming obscene, vulgar or pornographic material, a list that included ALTT, ULLU, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, Jalva App, ShowHit, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, NeonX VIP, Fugi, Mojflix and Triflicks.
Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the regulatory hook for those actions, prohibiting platforms from hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, gender-harassing, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that promotes hatred and violence.
For an industry that loses billions of rupees annually to piracy, the direction of travel is welcome. The question, as always, is not whether the laws exist, but whether the enforcement machinery can keep pace with the ingenuity of those determined to circumvent it. Three thousand channels down, and the pirates are already busy opening three thousand more.
