📰 New article from TorrentFreak
Italy Fines Cloudflare €14 Million for Refusing to Filter Pirate Sites on Public 1.1.1.1 DNS
Italy just slapped Cloudflare with a €14 million fine—not for leaking data, not for shady ads, but because it refused to block pirate sites on its public DNS service, 1.1.1.1.
Here’s the twist: Cloudflare wasn’t hiding behind “we’re just a tech company.” It argued that filtering millions of daily DNS requests to comply with Italy’s “Piracy Shield” would slow down the internet for everyone—like forcing a highway to stop every car to check if they’re carrying pirated UFC fights. AGCOM didn’t blink. “You have the tech,” they said. “Do your job.”
The kicker? Cloudflare’s infrastructure is used by roughly 70% of the pirate sites Italy’s trying to shut down. So when Cloudflare says “no,” it’s not just a company defying rules—it’s the backbone of the problem.
This isn’t just about Italy. It’s a global wake-up call: if your DNS provider doesn’t play nice with copyright enforcers, they might just get fined into oblivion. Google and OpenDNS are probably checking their compliance checklists right now.
Cloudflare’s already calling it unfair—and they’ll appeal. But this fine? It’s not just a penalty. It’s a message: even the giants aren’t too big to block.
(And yes, your favorite sports stream is still down. Sorry.)