Judge Confirms LaLiga’s Right to Block Cloudflare in Pursuit of IPTV Pirates

Last December, a Spanish judge authorized LaLiga to block Cloudflare's shared IP addresses to combat piracy. Thousands of innocent internet users were affected, prompting Cloudflare and cybersecurity group RootedCon to ask the court to overturn the order. A judge has now denied both requests, stating that no evidence was presented to show that blocking caused any damage.

laligatelefonblock When LaLiga claimed that Cloudflare’s refusal to enforce its terms against piracy made the company responsible for the unintended consequences of site blocking, legal action was all but inevitable.

According to Cloudflare, LaLiga knew that blocking a Cloudflare IP address used by a pirate service would also block innocent Cloudflare customers sharing the same IP. What mattered to LaLiga was the nature of the order it obtained last December, which reportedly authorized such blocking in the context of LaLiga’s escalating fight against piracy.

Under the claimed authority of the court, LaLiga’s subsequent blocking of Cloudflare IP addresses performed exactly as predicted. The ensuing collateral damage, which LaLiga insisted was both limited and Cloudflare’s responsibility, appeared to have little effect on LaLiga’s determination. Some commenters described the continued disruption as a threat to national security, but there was no visible government intervention.

Cloudflare and RootedCON Fail to Overturn Blocking Order

Hoping to bring the crisis to an end, Cloudflare and cybersecurity group RootedCON launched separate legal actions with the same goal. The precise details of their arguments remain unclear. At the core, any order lacking guardrails to protect the innocent, issued without allowing a company like Cloudflare to participate before it goes into effect, should be invalidated.

LaLiga predicted that these protests would be pointless, and indeed, the Commercial Court No. 6 of Barcelona has dismissed both challenges.

The court affirmed that the purpose of the order was to authorize blocking of IP addresses used for the unlawful distribution of content belonging to LALIGA and distributed by Telefonica. According to a statement by LaLiga, the Court found no fault with the procedure; it was found to be in full compliance with the law, contrary to claims by RootedCON that the order violates fundamental rights and limits free access to information.

“The decision reaffirms that the [blocking] action is in accordance with the law and is protected by current legislation regarding intellectual property and information society services, ratifying the validity of the procedure,” LaLiga’s statement reads.

“In fact, it rules out that a ‘procedural device’ has occurred, as suggested by some applicants, and confirms the validity of the procedure followed, disregarding the court order that there is a procedure for indiscriminate blocking, expressly declaring that there was no ‘undermining of guarantees’.”

Those guarantees relate to text in the order stating that it was granted partly on the basis that the blocking measures requested were not considered “contrary to the law, public order or harmful to third parties.”

No Evidence of Any Harm or Damage

Directly citing the text in the Court’s decision, LaLiga notes that the Court dismissed all claims that LaLiga’s blocking was responsible for damage, due to the lack of any supporting evidence.

“[It] is not proven, from the arguments made by the various petitioners, that any damage has occurred, nor is such damage identified, nor quantified, nor is the taking of any evidence requested aimed at proving, directly or indirectly, the generation of damage as a constitutive element of the claim for annulment.”
A statement from Cloudflare expresses disappointment that the Court failed to recognize the negative effect on its business. However, Cloudflare suggests that the fight may continue, despite the Court indicating that there can be no appeal.

“Cloudflare is disappointed with the court ruling, which upholds an order LaLiga relied on to block large areas of the internet in Spain,” Cloudflare notes.

“The court order is based on the fact that Cloudflare was not the direct target of the order, and fails to address the significant interference with its services and the harm to innocent consumers, websites, and businesses caused by LaLiga’s blocks. Cloudflare is evaluating the next steps in this litigation and will continue to fight actions that threaten internet freedom.”

RootedCON: We Do Not Understand the Judge’s Decision

RootedCON’s statement seems to imply that the decision was made without full consideration of available information. In any event, the negative effect on innocent internet users seems to have been disregarded.

“The judge has surprisingly dismissed our request (and Cloudflare’s), allowing La Liga to continue blocking, at will, websites and IP addresses that have no connection to ‘piracy’,” the organization notes.

“RootedCON remains firmly committed to defending citizens and will pursue all necessary legal means. We do not understand the judge’s decision, as we assumed he had not been provided with all the information necessary to issue a ruling. Unfortunately, his role has now become clear.”