French Court Orders VPNs to Block More Pirate Sites, Rejects EU Court Referral
The Paris Judicial Court has issued two rulings (dated July 18, 2025) requiring major VPN providers—including NordVPN, ProtonVPN, CyberGhost, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN—to block access from France to specific pirate sports streaming domains .
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In the beIN Sports vs. VPNs case, the court ordered all seven targeted domains (e.g., freestreams‑live.mp, topliga.net, tennis‑open.ru) to be blocked under Article L. 333‑10 of the French Sports Code .
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In the Canal+ vs. VPNs case, the court granted blocking orders for only five out of sixteen domains linked to unauthorized Formula 1 streams; the remaining eleven were declined due to insufficient evidence—particularly a lack of visible Canal+ branding to prove infringement .
The VPN providers had contested the orders, arguing they were ineffective, costly, and technically difficult to restrict to France. They also requested a stay of proceedings and sought a referral to the European Court of Justice (CJEU). The Paris Court rejected these defenses, stating the measures were targeted, proportionate, and legally sound, and declining the request for CJEU referral .
