Is Blanket IP Blocking Justified? La Liga vs Cloudflare on Piracy Enforcement
A Barcelona commercial court issued a controversial anti-piracy injunction in December 2024 and reaffirmed in early 2025, empowering LaLiga to compel ISPs to block Cloudflare IP ranges hosting illegal football streams . LaLiga claims the targeted blocking led to a 40–60% drop in piracy during key matches, including a 1.2 million-viewer semifinal and a 2 million-viewer El Clásico .
However, the injunction has also affected millions of legitimate websites behind those shared IPs—ranging from emergency services and small businesses to nonprofit platforms . Cloudflare’s CEO, Matthew Prince, slammed the measure as “bonkers,” warning that such broad IP-level blocks could disrupt life-saving infrastructure and legal sites—and ominously “prays no one dies” .
Despite Cloudflare and entities like RootedCON challenging the order, judges have upheld the blocks, stating there is no evidence of collateral harm; LaLiga says zero formal complaints have been filed via its designated channel .
The dispute highlights a key tension: while LaLiga argues IP blocking is an effective enforcement tool backed by judicial approval, critics contend it poses serious risks to internet freedom, user privacy, and network neutrality
