cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/7315022
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a Spanish court has labeled VPN services as “technological intermediaries,” ordering them to actively block IP addresses that host illegal LaLiga matches. The “dynamic” injunction compels NordVPN and ProtonVPN to intervene, similar to local ISPs. But with both companies operating outside EU jurisdiction with privacy-centric business models, it remains unclear if and how the order will actually be enforced.
Courts shouldn’t have the authority to block things for the entire population used for legal reasons that are also used for illegal reasons by a subset of the population. Lawmakers should add a law saying that.
Like dual use, legal and illegal uses, of something can’t be banned. If a terrorist could use an encrypted app, a judge can’t decree that all encrypted apps can’t be used.
If they don’t, then nothing is safe from bad players, and we will have plenty of those in government. It is just common sense to. This is a horrible precedent not fit for a democratic country, but for an autocracy like china. Protecting the revenue of a company does not take precedence over the freedom of the population to communicate with the world as they see fit, and it’s none of the court’s business.
OK. So long as the football clubs pay their entire policing bill and pay back the 100s of millions they have received in public funding. https://www.sports.legal/2019/03/public-funding-of-spanish-professional-football-clubs-a-game-worth-playing/
How about no? I don’t even give a fuck about sports in any manner but I still don’t believe corporations should be allowed to put up artificial barriers and then also get mad when people find a way around them.
If this continues the way the courts have been ruling in Spain there will soon be national Internet shut downs whenever Barcelona or Real are playing as a measure to stop privacy.
To a certain degree, this has already been happening in Spain for over a year now (believe it started in 2024, possibly even 2023). Vast swathes of the internet gets blocked during games because they share the same Cloudflare IPs. It’s affected so many random businesses that have absolutely nothing to do with football.
https://reclaimthenet.org/laliga-block-causes-spain-internet-outage-and-vpn-surge
This is something you would expect from china, not from a democracy. To protect a company’s revenue they want to revoke the online freedom of the entire population. Where does it end after you start that precedent?
Encrypted apps made illegal because criminals use them? Cash made illegal because criminals evade money laundering laws with it? It’s a preposterously broad remedy to a problem of a single company being more important than the freedom of an entire population.
I would look at the financial dealings of that judge and his family/in laws. Scour for property deals, stocks buys, etc., and look for payoffs disguised as investments or property purchases. I’m serious about that too, everything is getting more corrupt, not the least in regards to football.
