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   French court backs LFP and orders top VPNs to block illegal football streams   
      
   Date:   
   Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:20:06 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   A court in France has served its third blocking order against NordVPN,   
   Surfshark, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, and CyberGhost since May 2025, as the    
   fight against online piracy heats up. Here's what at stake.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   A court in Paris has ordered five well-known VPN providers to block access to   
   illegal sports streaming sites.    
      
   The order, dated December 18, compels NordVPN , Surfshark , Proton VPN ,   
   ExpressVPN , and CyberGhost to restrict access to 13 piracy sites, ruling in   
   favor of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP).    
      
   The ruling, as first reported by TorrentFreak this week, echoes a similar   
   order issued against the same VPN companies last May, which required these   
   services to block access to 203 domains linked to illegal sports streaming.    
   At the time, the VPN industry warned the move set "a dangerous precedent,"   
   warning of a chilling effect on online privacy and security.    
      
   Those concerns appear well-founded. Since the landmark May ruling, more   
   VPN-blocking orders followed in June and July at the request of French   
   broadcasters beIN Sports and Canal+.   
      
   What does the blocking order say?    
      
   Under the most recent ruling , the five VPN providers are required to   
   introduce "any effective means" to prevent access to the 13 domains from   
   within France within three days of the decision.    
      
   The measures apply for the duration of the 2025/2026 football season, which    
   is set to end on May 24, 2026. The list of sites affected can be extended   
   throughout the season at the LFP's request, via the regulatory authority ARCOM.   
      
   Judge reject VPN defence   
      
   VPN providers raised several legal and technical arguments against the   
   blocking order, which the judge rejected.    
      
   NordVPN and Surfshark argued that their no-logs infrastructure prevents them   
   from identifying users based in France. The companies warned that collecting   
   real user geolocation data would violate their contractual obligations.    
      
   The court responded that blocking access to illegal domains does not imply   
   that the service needs to permanently store user information.    
      
   The VPN providers also challenged the definition of "technical    
   intermediaries" under Article L. 333-10 of the Sports Code. The judge    
   rejected this argument, identifying VPNs as key intermediaries in online   
   piracy and deeming them legally liable.    
      
   According to the VPN companies, the blocking measures are also ineffective    
   and easy to circumvent, as users could turn to another VPN or DNS service .   
      
   What's next?    
      
   We have contacted the affected VPN providers to understand how they plan to   
   comply with the order and to clarify the implications for their users in   
   France.    
      
   A NordVPN spokesperson confirmed to TechRadar that the company has already   
   initiated an appeal, arguing that blocking does not eliminate the content   
   itself or reduce the incentives for piracy.    
      
   "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," said   
   NordVPN.    
      
   The provider also warned that these orders unfairly target established, paid   
   VPN services while leaving free alternatives largely untouched.  " Free VPNs   
   are often harder to regulate and, since users who seek to avoid paying for   
   content are unlikely to pay for a VPN either, these services remain a    
   loophole for pirates to bypass restrictions," NordVPN added.    
      
   Surfshark previously told TechRadar it intended to appeal the earlier May   
   ruling. We anticipate the provider will likely file a similar challenge   
   against this latest order.    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/french-court-backs-lfp-and-   
   orders-top-vpns-to-block-illegal-football-streams   
      
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