A recent High Court ruling has given Sky TV the legal right to get details of over 300 dodgy box users. It has been reported that Sky plans to use the information to take legal action against dodgy box users.
Deputy Paul Murphy has condemned the court ruling and has demanded that Sky drop its planned legal action.
Deputy Murphy also called for a dramatic increase in investment in public broadcasting to provide free, high-quality content.
People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy said:
“For decades we have seen the defunding and privatisation of public broadcasting. Inevitably it has reached the situation in which access to broadcast content is controlled by a range of profit-driven media corporations, each charging substantial fees for access to their content. This makes the cost prohibitive for most households
“When people are being ripped off by multiple subscriptions, or the TV licence, they take what steps they can to avoid unfair charges by using a dodgy box or not paying the license fee.
“Privatisation has allowed corporations to capture a public good, to charge for it, and use legal threats against anyone who tries to avoid their profit-driven agenda. It is a disgrace that the courts have allowed Sky, one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet, to pursue ordinary people through the courts. Access to culture is a human right and shouldn’t be dependent on ability to pay. Sky must drop its greedy legal action.
“Culture and entertainment cannot be the preserve of profit-driven corporations. The privatisation and defunding of public service broadcasting has been a disaster. It must be reversed, and public broadcasting must be reestablished.
“In our Budget 2026 proposals, People Before Profit called for funding in public broadcasting to be dramatically increased to €1 billion per year, funded through taxation of large and profitable social media and information and communications corporations. This would enable multiple public broadcasters to produce high quality content that is made freely available as a public good.
“We urgently need to end the greedy profiteering of Sky and other media corporations and reestablish high-quality public broadcasting.”