Spotify's Crackdown on Anna's Archive Domains Hits a Jurisdiction Snag
7 days ago
- #Music Piracy
- #Legal Jurisdiction
- #Domain Privacy
- Njalla is a privacy-focused domain name service that shields website operators from threats like takedown efforts and court orders.
- Spotify and record labels sued Anna’s Archive, obtaining a preliminary injunction to suspend its domains (.ORG, .SE) to prevent scraped music tracks from being published.
- Anna’s Archive switched to Njalla for domains (.LI, .PM, .IN) after Cloudflare and .ORG registry complied with the U.S. court order.
- A broader injunction was issued to cover new domains and intermediaries like Njalla, but some (.LI, .PM) remain accessible due to jurisdictional limits.
- Njalla, based in Costa Rica, may require a local court order to act, while other registries (Switch Foundation, AFNIC) also resist automatic compliance with U.S. orders.
- AFNIC (registry for .PM) stated U.S. court decisions are not directly enforceable in France without local court recognition.
- Anna’s Archive temporarily disabled Spotify torrent downloads, but the music industry’s enforcement efforts highlight jurisdictional challenges.
- The RIAA suspects the registrant 'Cyberdyne S.A.' may be a fabricated name, with no clear trace to the site’s operators.