A Parisian court has issued an order in favour of media company beIN Group who run several paid TV channels in France and other markets.
The order forces the main French ISPs to block 18 domain names from their users:
1 beinmatch.tv
2 beinmatchtv.tv
3 kooora4live.net
4 kooora4lives.com
5 kora-online.tv
6 kooraonline.tv
7 yalla-shoot.us
8 cloud.yalla-shoot.us
9 tv.kora-star.com
10 Livetv.sx
11 Cdn.livetv491.me
12 sekdrive.net
13 sportnews.to
14 fcstream.cc
15 freestreams-live1.com
16 fc.freestreams-live1.com
17 aflam4you.tv
18 can2021.aflam4you.tvThe media company, which operates in multiple markets and also owns MiraMax, took a case regarding so called pirate sites under newly introduced legislation in France. Apparently this is the first case to make use of this new legal instrument.
The ISPs identified in the order must take steps to block the name domains from their users, so most of them will probably do that at the DNS resolver level. However it’s technically trivial to circumvent this kind of block by either switching DNS server or running your own or using a VPN.
The order will also apparently apply to not only the original list of 18 domains but also to any mirrors that are set up, though how that will work in reality is unclear.
In light of the recent call from the EU for a DNS service this kind of action is worrying. As one user put it:
Roughly translated: “Forget about terrorism or paedophiles, they’re just an excuse. When we put in place tools to censor the internet it’s purely to protect business interest (this time round sport)”
beIN are hailing this outcome as a victory and go so far as to claim that this will mean that users will be blocked from the various sites mentioned:
“Dans le cadre de cette décision et en respect du nouvel article L. 333-10 du Code du sport, les fournisseurs d’accès à internet (FAI) ont assuré le blocage des sites et adresses contrevenants. Les usagers de ces plateformes se sont vus ainsi dans l’impossibilité d’accéder aux retransmissions live illégales. Dans la continuité de cette décision, l’Arcom aura désormais le pouvoir de demander aux FAI le blocage de tout nouveau site – identifié à compter de la décision – retransmettant illégalement en live. Cette mesure a pour objectif de réduire significativement le volume de signaux frauduleux.”
“Based on this decision and with respect to the new legislation ISPs must block access to the infringing sites. The users of these service will therefore be unable to access illegal live retranmissions. Arcom (the French media regulator) will also be able to extend this order to cover any new site – identified in relation to this decision – and order their blocking by the ISPs. This measure will mean that the amount of fraudulent transmissions will be reduced significantly”
The story is covered in more detail in the French media here and here.
