Google, Cloudflare, Cisco Lose Pirate Site DNS Blocking Appeal in France
9 hours ago
- #DNS Blocking
- #Anti-Piracy
- #French Court Ruling
- Traditional ISP-based site blocking in France was circumvented by users switching to third-party DNS resolvers.
- A 2024 Paris Judicial Court order required Cloudflare, Google, and Cisco to block pirate sites via their DNS resolvers under Article L. 333-10 of the French Sport Code.
- Cisco temporarily halted its OpenDNS service in France, while Google and Cloudflare appealed the orders.
- The Paris Court of Appeal rejected all five appeals, ruling DNS blocking feasible and proportionate, and that DNS resolvers can be compelled to block sites.
- Defense arguments—including claims of neutrality, ineffectiveness, and high implementation costs—were dismissed by the court.
- Cisco, Cloudflare, and Google must implement blocking at their own cost for hundreds of pirate domains.
- Canal+ views the rulings as part of a broader strategy, with future measures including IP address blocking and actions against VPN providers.