VPN crackdown in Spain, as LaLiga raises against pirates

A Spanish court just told NordVPN and ProtonVPN to start blocking pirate football streaming. Neither company got a prior warning.

Two of the world’s biggest VPN companies, NordVPN and ProtonVPN, have been hit with a Spanish court order to start blocking illegal football streams immediately.

The move comes from Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba, following a case brought by LaLiga, Spain’s professional football league, and its broadcast partner, Telefónica Audiovisual Digital (TAD).

The court is demanding that both providers configure their systems to block access to specific IP addresses flagged by the claimants for streaming matches without permission.

On the other hand, LaLiga and TAD are required to “preserve sufficient digital evidence of the unlawful transmission of the protected contents” that they notify the defendants, ensuring the accuracy of their claims.

LaLiga has long taken a firm stance against piracy, previously targeting Cloudflare for allegedly facilitating illegal sports streams.

“Google, Cloudflare, VPN providers, and other entities facilitating piracy are responsible for the illegal activities they enable and profit from,” wrote LaLiga in a notice.

“LaLiga, backed by the justice system, will not relent in its efforts to protect football and the interests of its clubs against criminal actions related to audiovisual fraud and digital laundering,”

added the organization.

In the current case against VPN providers, the league argued that the companies fall under the EU Digital Services Act, making them responsible for preventing copyright infringement on their networks.

According to LaLiga, the court emphasized that VPNs are “highly effective and accessible” for bypassing geographic restrictions, allowing users to reach websites that broadcast protected content illegally.

The orders also note that the VPN providers themselves promote their ability to evade restrictions. The court measures are non-appealable. The court acted inaudita parte, meaning the defendants were not called to participate in a hearing.

VPN provider questions the legitimacy of proceedings

ProtonVPN has publicly challenged the Spanish court on X post, stating that the company was not aware of any legal proceedings prior to media reports and has not been formally notified of any judgment.

“Any judicial order issued without proper notification to the affected parties, thereby denying them the opportunity to be heard, would be procedurally invalid under fundamental principles of due process,” stated ProtonVPN in the post.

“Spanish courts, like all courts operating under the rule of law, are bound by procedural safeguards that ensure parties are given a fair opportunity to present their case before any binding judgment is rendered,” the company added.

NordVPN has also been caught by surprise.

“At this stage, we have not received the judicial documents mentioned in the press, so it will be premature to comment without having reviewed them,” Laura Tyrylyte, privacy advocate at NordVPN, told Cybernews.

According to the spokesperson, NordVPN is not part of any Spanish judicial proceedings to their knowledge, and therefore has no opportunity to defend.

“Given such judgments' impact on how the internet operates, such an approach by rightsholders is unacceptable. In any case, we are not in a position to comment about which exact measures and against whom were ordered without having seen the judgment,” the spokesperson added.

VPN providers see loopholes for pirates

According to Tyrylyte, blocking domains is an ultimately ineffective measure to combat piracy. These blocking measures mainly hit legitimate, paid VPN services, while free VPNs largely slip through the cracks.

Because free VPNs are harder to regulate, and their users are unlikely to pay for access anyway, they remain an easy loophole for pirates, letting illegal streams continue with little resistance.

“While blocking domains may address superficial cases, it fails to tackle the root causes of piracy. Pirates can easily circumvent these blocks by using subdomains. Blocking does not eliminate the content itself or reduce the incentives for piracy,” she stated.

According to NordVPN, effective piracy control should focus on eliminating the source of the content, targeting hosting providers, cutting off financing for illegal operations, and increasing the availability of legitimate content.

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