Court Orders Google to Poison Public DNS to Prevent IPTV Piracy

Last December the Court of Milan ordered Cloudflare to block sites added to Italy's Piracy Shield system. Cloudflare sees itself as a neutral intermediary but increasingly frustrated rightsholders say it should play a more active role by assisting their fight against piracy. A decision issued by the same court now requires Google to poison its Public DNS to prevent access to pirate sites. It was handed down on March 11 without Google being heard in the matter.

iptv-blockedItaly’s war on pirate IPTV providers, resellers, and viewers, began in earnest back in February 2024. Yet despite the significant resources committed to the expanding Piracy Shield initiative, it’s all but invisible to the public.

Piracy Shield’s existence, not unlike that of a cosmic black hole, is perhaps most easily confirmed by observing the effect it has on the entities that surround it. After drawing in every ISP in the country, each required to block pirate sites within 30 minutes at their own expense, legal amendments recently expanded the potential for new recruits. VPN providers, DNS operators, hosting companies, and other blocking-capable entities, can now be compelled to participate in a piracy war with no obvious end.

Both Cloudflare and Google have faced considerable pressure to participate voluntarily. Once it became clear that was unlikely to happen, telecoms regulator AGCOM began openly criticizing the companies’ refusal to implement blocking measures. Just below the surface, both were already becoming entangled in uncompromising anti-piracy legislation, specifically designed to ensure that intermediaries have no other choice.

Cloudflare Falls First

In a decision handed down last December, the Court of Milan ordered Cloudflare to block pirate streaming services offering Serie A football matches. The Court found that Cloudflare’s CDN, DNS resolver, WARP, and reverse proxy service, facilitate access to live pirate streams.

The Court spoke of “causal contribution” to copyright infringement and the undermining of Italy’s ‘Piracy Shield’ legislation. With its finding that refusal to take action established legal responsibility for the self-described online intermediary, the Court warned that further refusal to block would be addressed with fines of €10,000 per day.

Serie A Complaint Triggers Action Against Google

In a lawsuit filed at the Court of Milan, Serie A complained that Google refused to comply with requests to block pirate sites for which AGCOM had issued blocking instructions.

In a statement published Thursday, AGCOM Commissioner Massimiliano Capitanio claims that not only did Google fail to respect those orders, but it also took no action to address content previously listed for blocking on the Piracy Shield system.

Published on LinkedIn, Capitanio’s statement references a decision handed down on March 11 by the Court of Milan, which reportedly clarifies that all relevant internet access providers, including Google, must respect the requirements of law n. 93/2023.

The Court’s decision wasn’t made available to support AGCOM’s statement, and at the time of writing, we are still trying to locate a copy. Whether it contains any additional information is unknown but as things stand, the reporting suggests a landslide defeat for Google and praise all round for AGCOM’s work.

The Decision, According to AGCOM

Capitanio’s assessment notes that Google is subject to EU regulations concerning digital services. As a result, the company is also required to comply with requests for blocking measures issued on an “urgent basis in order to counteract illicit activities carried out by recipients of services, where those services causally contribute” to rights violations.

“It is therefore reiterated, as already noted in the December [2024] order against Cloudflare, that when AGCOM determines that certain content violates copyright, any service that contributes to the distribution of that content must comply with [AGCOM’s] decisions,” Capitanio adds.

“In ordering the execution of the blocks, with a precise reconstruction of the legislation, the Judge therefore confirmed the value of AGCOM’s investigations, once again giving legitimacy to a system for the protection of copyright that is unique in the world.”

One-Sided Decision

Since AGCOM has clashed quite fiercely with both Cloudflare and Google over blocking and related issues during the last 12 months, any defeat for Google will likely be considered a win for the regulator. This brings us to another important aspect of the announcement.

After Serie A receives praise from AGCOM, it becomes evident that Google has not yet had an opportunity to defend its position.

“The validity of Serie A’s requests seem so clear that the provision was issued inaudita altera parte, that is, without even needing to hear from Google, which will obviously bring its defense in view of the hearing that will have to confirm the provision,” Capitanio notes.

To use a football analogy, Serie A appears to be leading four-nil after the first leg, but has yet to face any opposition. More detail on the specifics of the procedure may yet prove informative but until then, Google is clearly being identified as the loser.

“The Court reminds the American company, as it already did with Cloudflare, that no one should even unwittingly favor crimes related to piracy. The road to full legality is still a long one, but these are fundamental steps forward,” Capitanio concludes.