Court Upholds Belgian Pirate DNS Blocking Order, OpenDNS Exit Looms
4 hours ago
- Belgium's anti-piracy department obtained a blocking order in April 2025 against ISPs and DNS providers (Cloudflare, Google, Cisco) to stop pirate streaming domains, with fines of €100,000 per day for non-compliance.
- Cisco initially pulled OpenDNS out of Belgium but returned after a court suspension; the final ruling in August 2025 upheld the DNS blocking requirement, stating it is technically feasible and not disproportionately costly.
- The court gave DNS providers small victories: no redirect warning page required, fines only apply on DAZN match days (max €20 million), and under-blocking due to exceptional geolocation errors is exempt.
- The blocking is dynamic: weekly blocklist updates (max 100 new domains), with activation 90 minutes before matches and intermittent operation to disrupt pirate viewing habits.
- Cisco announced it will pull OpenDNS out of Belgium again, citing inability to implement selective geolocated blocking without compromising service performance, security, or stability.
- DNS providers have three months to comply; OpenDNS users in Belgium may lose service unless an appeal changes the outcome.