- France issues another blocking order to five top VPNs
- The VPNs must block access to 13 illegal soccer streaming sites
- It is the third such ruling against VPNs since May 2025
A Paris court has ordered five well-known VPN providers to block access to illegal sports streaming sites.
The order, dated December 18, forces NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN and CyberGhost to restrict access to 13 piracy sites and rule in favor of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP).
The order, first reported by TorrentFreak this week, mirrors a similar order issued against the same VPN companies last May, which required those services to block access to 203 domains linked to illegal sports streaming. At the time, the VPN industry warned that the move set “a dangerous precedent” and warned of a chilling effect on online privacy and security.
These concerns appear well-founded. Since the landmark May ruling, several VPN-blocking orders followed in June and July at the request of French broadcasters beIN Sports and Canal+.
What does the blocking order say?
According to the latest ruling, the five VPN providers are required to put in place “any effective means” to prevent access to the 13 domains from France within three days of the decision.
The measures will apply for the duration of the 2025/2026 football season, which is set to end on 24 May 2026.
The list of affected locations can be extended during the season at the LFP’s request via the regulatory authority ARCOM.
Judge rejects VPN defense
VPN providers raised several legal and technical arguments against the blocking order, which the judge rejected.
NordVPN and Surfshark claimed that their no-logs infrastructure prevents them from identifying users based in France. The companies warned that collecting real user geolocation data would violate their contractual obligations.
The court replied that blocking access to illegal domains does not mean that the service must store user information permanently.
The VPN providers also contested the definition of “technical intermediaries” under Article L. 333-10 of the Sports Code. The judge rejected this argument, identifying VPNs as key intermediaries in online piracy and holding them legally liable.
According to the VPN companies, the blocking measures are also ineffective and easy to bypass, as users could turn to another VPN or DNS service.
What’s next?
We have contacted the affected VPN providers to understand how they plan to comply with the order and to clarify the implications for their users in France.
A NordVPN spokesperson confirmed to TechRadar that the company has already launched an appeal, arguing that blocking does not eliminate the content itself or reduce the incentives for piracy.
“Effective piracy should focus on eliminating the source of the content, targeting hosting providers, cutting off funding for illegal operations and increasing the availability of legitimate content,” NordVPN said.
The provider also warned that these orders unfairly target established paid VPN services while leaving free alternatives largely untouched. “Free VPNs are often harder to regulate, and since users looking to avoid paying for content won’t pay for a VPN either, these services remain a loophole for pirates to bypass restrictions,” NordVPN added.
Surfshark previously told TechRadar that it intended to appeal the earlier May ruling. We expect that the provider is likely to file a similar challenge against this latest order.
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