- Cloudflare has filed an appeal with the Spanish Constitutional Court against the IP blocking ordered by LaLiga.
- The blocks affect tens of thousands of domains, including legitimate websites, institutional services, and businesses.
- LaLiga obtained the order without informing the court of the shared nature of the IP addresses or notifying the cloud service providers.
- The case calls into question compliance with the EU Open Internet Regulation and raises a debate about the limits of the fight against piracy in Spain.
El conflicto entre Cloudflare y LaLiga for the recent ones IP address blocks has escalated to the highest courts in Spain. The US technology company has decided to take action and has filed a appeal to the Constitutional Court, in an attempt to curb a practice they consider excessive and detrimental to normal internet access in the country.
Over the last few months, numerous Spanish users and companies have suffered interruptions in your online services as a result of measures taken to combat piracy of sports broadcasts. Although the football season has ended, The legal battle between the two entities is ongoing and threatens to redefine the future of open and neutral access to the network in Spain..
A massive blocking strategy in the judicial spotlight
The root of the conflict lies in the judgment of the Commercial Court No. 6 of Barcelona, which from December 2024 allows LaLiga to request the blocking of IP addresses associated with the unauthorized broadcast of their matches. However, the application of this ruling since February 2025 has had unforeseen effects: affected thousands of legitimate websites, from media outlets to institutional websites and online stores, by sharing the same IP ranges as the targeted websites.
Cloudflare maintains that LaLiga withheld crucial information judges by not specifying that the affected IP addresses were shared among thousands of websites unrelated to the piracy. The main cloud service providers were also not notified, which has led to Millions of Spanish users are left without access to essential services during match weekends.
The situation seems far from being resolved: the The ruling will remain in effect until the 2026/2027 season., lo que significa que los blockades could be repeated Every time there is football on open television or streaming, unless the courts determine otherwise.
Impact and Criticism: Third-Party Damages and Cloudflare's Arguments
According to both Cloudflare and the cybersecurity organization RootedCON, the damages caused by indiscriminate blockades are evident. Media outlets, corporate websites, pages of public organizations such as city councils, and even payment platforms have been temporarily inaccessible, affecting businesses, public services, and information of general interest.
Cloudflare, in its letter to the Constitutional Court and in communications sent to the European Commission, denounces that the measures adopted do not comply with the EU Open Internet Regulation. They consider that they are violated basic principles of equitable and non-discriminatory access, since mass blocking does not distinguish between websites involved in illegal activities and those that are completely legitimate.
In its appeal, the technology company also points out that the court in charge of the case dismissed their appeals without offering any compensation formula or mechanisms to mitigate the impact on third partiesFurthermore, they emphasize the lack of legal tools to prevent these excessive blockages from recurring in the future.
The judicial response to these appeals will be decisive for the future of net neutrality in Spain. For now, both Cloudflare and RootedCON have exhausted ordinary legal avenues without success, as the judge dismissed their appeals in March 2025.
LaLiga, for its part, defends the legitimacy of its actions. Su presidente, Javier Tebas has publicly insisted that these measures are essential to protect audiovisual rights and combat piracy., and is preparing to maintain the bans for the 2025/2026 season. Tebas himself has responded to Cloudflare's criticism with personal accusations, highlighting the tension between the parties.
Meanwhile, those affected are eagerly awaiting the Constitutional Court's ruling, which is key to lay the groundwork for how to manage copyright in the digital age without compromising internet accessibility for millions of citizens and businesses.
The recent clashes between Cloudflare and LaLiga have brought to the table the Limits of Internet control and the right to open connectivityThe Constitutional Court's upcoming decisions will not only impact the upcoming football season, but will also set important precedents regarding net neutrality and intellectual property protection in Spain.
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