Yes, this is similar to a couple of other judgements, but is only a starting point.
The prosecutions in point were trying to prove an illegal intent by the landlords, but of course they are paying for the cards from a legitimate, if overseas source, so that cannot be proved. There is no copyright in the UK for the 3pm screenings (as no UK provider transmits them), so there is nothing to breach. The copyright owners (Premiership) will probably now approach this from a different angle, as there is a new round of bidding coming up and they need to protect their home sales.
If the proscribed period cannot be protected by copyright law, then we can look forward to official televisation of matches within that period by UK broadcasters and perhaps punative contractual measures being introduced for overseas providers who sell domestic subscriptions which are used for commercial purposes.
What amuses me a little on this, is some of the companies who are selling these packages to publicans, are making huge profits on the subscriptions, sometimes more than 5 times the market price for the subscriptions and they are selling it on the basis of "why pay Sky's rip off prices"
