Spain’s soccer league has found a new target in its fight against pirate streams: the VPNs people use to protect their privacy online.
A court in Córdoba has ordered NordVPN and Proton VPN to block specific IP addresses broadcasting illegal LaLiga matches, requiring both companies to alter their “internal systems” to make those addresses “inaccessible from Spain.”
The ruling was issued without notifying either provider. Neither could challenge it before it took effect. The court says it cannot be appealed at all.
LaLiga and Telefónica Audiovisual Digital brought the case to Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba, framing the measures as “precautionary” and taken in “defense of [LaLiga] clubs’ audiovisual rights.”
The court’s theory of liability is that VPNs are “contributing” to piracy simply by doing what VPNs do, letting users change their IP address and location. The order also notes that VPNs “acknowledge and advertise” their effectiveness at evading internet restrictions. Offering a privacy tool that works, in other words, is now evidence of wrongdoing.
Both companies found out about the ruling the same way everyone else did. NordVPN and Proton have said that they have received no notice of this.
Hellbound and Down 