LaLig

The start of the new LaLiga season has brought A new wave of IPS blockages. However, it has not been the only thing that has raised ampoules to fans and users on social networks. And it is that beyond the usual blockages that also affect legitimate websites, LaLiga seems to have opened a new front: Send legal notifications directly to users of Cloudflare that are not related to the unauthorized emissions of the parties.

A new pressure strategy. As many users They have been sharing In networks, LaLiga is using ICANN regulations to reach Cloudflare private clients. And when the agency detects that an IP address houses unauthorized content during the parties, not only requests the blockade of that IP, but also requires Cloudflare to notify all customers that share that same address. The solution that LaLiga suggests is that customers ask Cloudflare to avoid sharing their IP with sites that broadcast football without permission. If not, the agency could take legal actions.

Image: Lázaro’s blog

Collateral victims in the spotlight. The case that has given the most in the last hours has been The ‘Lázaro’s blog’a personal site dedicated to GNU/Linux that received one of these notifications. In the mail, dated August 25, LaLiga warns that its website was housed on IP 104.21.16.1, from which it was supposedly facilitated access to matches during the first day. “If the previous circumstance continues, we will understand that for its part, a deliberate omission of its obligations against the crime commission is developed.”

The operation of shared IP. Cloudflare operates with a shared IP address system where hundreds or thousands of websites can use the same address. This architecture allows optimizing resources and improving protection against DDOS attacks. However, when LaLiga detects that an IP address has been used to share a retransmission of a party without authorization, all the sites that share it They are indicatedregardless of its content or activity.

What LaLiga says. We have contacted the body to know more about this type of notifications. According to the company, “this type of communications were already sent to users since last season, due to the inaction of Cloudflare and the lack of protection towards their own users.” For LaLiga, these blockages are “dynamic and provided, since these measures apply only to those IP addresses in which pirate emission activity is detected.”

From LaLiga they also warn that “those clouds of Cloudflare who may suffer blockages on their websites, can go to email affectedcloudflare@laliga.es In order to send cloudflare that the illegal content housed on the IP of its website does not have its authorization. “

Threats with echoes from the past. This aggressive persecution reminds many other cases in Spain where they have tried to chase private users for downloading content without authorization such as the Euskaltel casewhere users were sent letters for having downloaded films through P2P, pressing the user with having to pay or go to trial.

In the case of Lázaro’s blog, Cloudflare did not attach screen catches What LaLiga says to have as proof. “It is an automatic email, I imagine that all those domains that at the time of soccer are in the range of IPS that they detect that piracy occurs.”

A problem of effectiveness. While LaLiga intensifies their offensive against those who see soccer matches from unauthorized broadcasts, the most affected are precisely users who have nothing to do with it. Blocks and threats are demonstrating to be more effective in harming small personal websites and blogs than to stop illegal distribution networks of sports content.

Resources that remain in the air. The case is currently in the Constitutional Courtwhere so much Rootedcon As Cloudflare they have presented resources against blockages. While the bureaucracy continues its course and Internet suppliers continue to adopt restrictive measures Based on the sentence in favor of LaLiga, more and more users are affected by using legitimate services that casually share IP address with those who are not. And for the moment everything is paralyzed.

In Xataka | LaLiga can no longer monetize her matches in Spain. So start playing them where: USA