Quad9 refuses to implement a French order requiring it to block 58 pirate sites that illegally broadcast tennis matches in France. beIN Sports now demands a fine of 10,000 euros per domain per day, or up to 580,000 euros per day for the Swiss DNS resolver.
The DNS questions the possibility of a block limited to France
In May, the Paris court ordered Google, DNS4EU and Quad9 to block access from France to pirate services that illegally broadcast WTA tennis matches. The initial list included six domain names, before another 52 were added during two updates, bringing the total to 58. The order is based on article L. 333-10 of the Sports Code, which allows the judge to impose measures aimed at preventing access from French territory to services that illegally broadcast a sports competition.
Quad9, however, claims to have not blocked any of the 58 domains. The foundation explains that it does not collect data that allows it to precisely identify the location of its users and that, therefore, it should rely on third-party databases that associate IP addresses with geographic positions. However, according to her, these bases may be incomplete or erroneous. “We have no legally valid way to define a French user”consider Quad9.
The problem comes from how a DNS resolver works. Quad9 receives a request to translate a domain name to an IP address, but its service does not require knowing the user’s identity or country to perform this operation. The organization also uses its own blocking systems primarily for areas associated with cyber threats. The geographic filtering imposed by a jurisdiction (in this case French) requires you to add a distinction that you consider technically unreliable.
The court had already rejected a first request for a periodic penalty payment from beIN Sports, which then demanded 2,000 euros per day and per domain. The judges considered that there was nothing at this point to show that Quad9 intended to oppose the order. As the foundation finally did not proceed with the blocking, beIN Sports decided to return to court with a new demand, this time set at 10,000 euros per domain per day.
Quad9 could leave France
The hearing on this new sanction request was held at the beginning of October and the court should issue its decision in the coming weeks. If beIN Sports’ application is successful, the bill could reach 580,000 euros per day, or several million euros per week, a sum that would likely jeopardize the very existence of a non-profit foundation like Quad9.
Quad9 now reports TorrenFreak which considers several scenarios. The first would consist of implementing a block aimed only at French users, despite the foundation’s technical reservations. The second would be to block all 58 domains worldwide. And the last would consist of stopping providing its service to Internet users located in France, a solution already chosen by OpenDNS after a previous French procedure. Quad9 must still determine with its founding council which option to choose if the court actually imposes a sanction.
The case comes as France is further expanding its measures against sports piracy. A law adopted in July in particular allows Arcom to block new domains in real time during a sports broadcast, carrying out a control by the regulator after the blocking. For Quad9, this development risks significantly increasing the number of requests made to DNS resolvers and the associated technical limitations.
More generally, the foundation believes that DNS resolvers do not constitute the appropriate technical level to combat piracy. It considers that the expansion of geographical blocks could push some Internet users to use less transparent or less secure DNS services, while leaving the content in question accessible by other means. The decision of the Paris court will now determine whether Quad9 must comply with this order, bear the sanction requested by beIN Sports or consider withdrawing from the French market.
