The judge supports the massive blockages of LaLiga although they affect websites without relation to piracy

The Commercial Court No. 6 of Barcelona has dismissed the attempt of the American multinational cloudflare to illegalize the last antipiratry maneuver of LaLiga. This consists of blocking access to part of the company’s services when it detects that they also provide websites that broadcast pirate football, a strategy that prevented access to many other legitimate pages that are not related to this practice.

The judge points out that “it is not accredited” that “there has been any damage” that can support the withdrawal of the judicial permit on which LaLiga is based to carry out these blockages, according to a statement that has distributed the employer of Spanish football. The organization led by Javier Tebas, however, has refused to provide the full car at the request of eldiario.es.

The cause of Cloudflare had joined Rootedcon, the company in charge of the organization of one of the main cybersecurity conventions of Spain. “The judge has dismissed our application (and Cloudflare) surprisingly, allowing LaLiga to continue blocking, at will, websites and IP addresses that are not related to piracy,” said Roothed.

“We do not understand the magistrate’s decision, since we assumed that all the necessary information to issue a sentence had not been provided. Unfortunately, its role has been clear,” added the organization, which has not facilitated the order of the judge requested by this means.

Cloudflare, on the other hand, has also expressed its “disappointment” with the decision of the court. “The order of the court is based on the fact that Cloudflare was not directly subject to the order, without addressing significant interference in Cloudflare services and damage to innocent consumers, websites and companies caused by LaLiga’s blocking efforts. Cloudflare is evaluating the next steps in this litigation,” says the US multinational.

LaLiga has connected its blocking strategy based on a court order that allows you to request telecommunications operators to block IP addresses associated with unauthorized broadcasts. This takes advantage of the digital bottleneck that represents Cloudflare, which provides these IP addresses and functions as an intermediary that helps web pages improve their performance and safety. Preventing access to the IP addresses of Cloudflare, LaLiga manages to interrupt the pirate parties, but also tomb legal services, as hundreds of users have complained on social networks since the offensive began, in early February.

“This sentence is a new firm step in the consolidation of a more fair and legal digital environment for the creators and rights holders in Spain,” said LaLiga, which emphasizes that its action “fits law and is protected by current legislation.”