Federal Court Issues Reasons For "Expandable" Site-Blocking Order

In Bell Media Inc. v. John Doe 1 (Soap2day), 2025 FC 133, the Federal Court provided its reasons for a site-blocking order it granted on December 16, 2024, which requires various Internet service providers (ISPs) to prevent access to websites associated with online piracy platforms operated under the brand Soap2Day.

The Order allows the Plaintiffs (a group of movie and television studio companies) to amend the Order with a simplified motion to add further domain names, subdomains, and/or IP addresses to a list of blocked websites. The Order is intended to address a growing trend observed by the Plaintiffs of new copycat infringement platforms immediately replacing platforms that have been successfully shut down. Such activity circumvents so-called "static" orders previously issued by the Court, which had to specify particular domains associated with a platform.