Cloudflare Tells U.S. Govt That Foreign Site Blocking Efforts Are Trade Barriers
16 days ago
- #site-blocking
- #Cloudflare
- #trade barriers
- The USTR publishes an annual report on foreign trade barriers, influenced by industry input, including concerns from copyright groups about piracy.
- Cloudflare, a major network provider, has raised concerns about foreign site-blocking measures acting as trade barriers for U.S. tech companies.
- In Spain, broad IP blocking orders disrupt legitimate sites, causing collateral damage without judicial recourse.
- Italy's 'Piracy Shield' law imposes rapid blocking requirements, leading to overblocking and affecting services like Google Drive.
- France's new anti-piracy law risks automated IP blocking, potentially harming lawful services and cross-border operations.
- South Korea's revised Network Act mandates CDNs to block extensive URL lists, creating heavy compliance burdens.
- Cloudflare urges the USTR to address these barriers, conflicting with rightsholders' demands for more blocking measures.
- The USTR's 2026 report will reveal how these concerns are addressed.