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Cloudflare cracks down on UK piracy – and VPN users are getting caught in the crossfire
- Cloudflare has started blocking many pirate domains for users in the UK
- Hundreds of illegal streaming sites could be affected
- This is the first time that an internet intermediary has started blocking pirate sites in the UK
Cloudflare has just started blocking access to certain pirate streaming websites – but only for users in the UK.
Pirate streaming sites are already commonly blocked by most of the biggest internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK. However, those restrictions can often be bypassed by using one of the best VPN providers. Not this time – using a UK VPN endpoint still triggers the block, preventing the website from loading.
Cloudflare blocked the websites due to a legal order, most likely issued by the Motion Picture Association (MPA). According to reports, up to 200 domains could be affected by this new block.
Cloudflare blocks illegal streams in the UK for the first time
Cloudflare’s block on pirate streaming websites in the UK appears to have come into effect just this month, but the legal case may have started as early as February 2024.
Due to this block, users who try to visit pirate streaming sites are faced with an error. Cloudflare’s Error HTTP 451 is reserved for situations when a website is blocked due to legal reasons.
Cloudflare doesn’t appear to be a party in this conflict, though. As the Lumen Database reveals, a private law firm delivered a court order to Google, listing 14 websites — but Torrentfreak estimates that as many as 200 pirate domains could be affected.
Many UK citizens are already used to pirate streaming sites being blocked. ISPs such as BT, Virgin Media, and Sky usually carry out these blocks following court orders, which means that many users will never even see the error message from Cloudflare — their ISPs will block the website from loading first. However, those blocks are easily bypassed with a VPN, which lets you keep your activities private.
Many users often connect to a VPN server based in the same country to avoid high latency, but Cloudflare’s involvement makes that impossible. If the ISP doesn’t catch it, Cloudflare itself will.
Can you still use a VPN to access these websites?
Cloudflare’s block goes beyond what any ISP can place on any given website. As geo-blocking is being used, the websites are simply unavailable in the UK, point blank.
For the first time, this also means that using a virtual private network (VPN) won’t bypass these restrictions, as long as the server is based in the UK.
Although we’re unable to test this ourselves, connecting to a VPN based outside of the UK might still help circumvent these blocks. Keep in mind that this content is considered illegal, and TechRadar doesn’t condone using VPNs to access pirate websites.
A rise in anti-piracy orders
Cloudflare operates one of the fastest public DNS (domain name system) resolvers in the world. It’s responsible for connecting billions of users to their desired websites, and as such, it can also step in and block them from doing so before any network-changing tool can interfere. This is why these blocks also affect VPN users.
Cloudflare previously criticized anti-piracy network blocking as ineffective and overreaching. The company has previously told TechRadar that “network blocking is never going to be the solution.”
Cloudflare’s Vice President and Global Head of Public Policy, Alissa Starzak, went as far as to say that such efforts have collateral effects and they’re “ruining the internet.” Cloudflare has even filed an appeal with the Spanish Constitutional Court earlier this year, attempting to combat IP blocking during La Liga football matches.
DNS providers aren’t the only ones being targeted in Europe, either, as efforts to get rid of piracy continue.
Canal+, a major French streaming provider, scored a legal victory in May when a landmark ruling ordered five popular VPN providers to block access to 200+ illegal sports streaming sites. This, however, sparked questions about where the line between fighting piracy and censorship is really drawn.
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