Larger French streaming provider Canal+ appears to block VPN access in a greater escalation of anti-piracy measures in the country.
After a successful lawsuit against DNS services last year, Canal+ has now joined forces with France’s professional football league -agent, Ligue de Football Professional (LFP), To issue court decisions for some of the best VPN providers in the market.
Of course, VPN companies are furious and warn that undermining people’s internet freedom and privacy is not the solution to online piracy.
One of the targeted companies Proton VPN told Techradar: “DNS Blocking is a common strategy that authoritarian governments use to censor the Internet and control the community. By also attacking VPNs – one of the last bulwarks against online censorship – Canal+ and LFP Media crosses a red line.
VPN -blocking: Ineffective and dangerous
A virtual private network (VPN) is security software that encrypts users’ Internet connection to increase online private life while they are forged their real IP address.
While the latter skill is crucial to bypassing strict state imposed Internet restrictions, it can also be used as a solution to current anti-piracy tactics involving blocking access to piracy sites based on user browsing location. This is exactly what the French legal gardens will stop.
As first reported by the French publication L’Nforms, Proton VPN is the target of Canal +’s legal action along with NordVPN and Cyberghost. The country’s streaming giant also performed ExpressVPN and Surfshark as respondents.
According to Proton VPN, “The trial is illogical and tackles the wrong problem,” a spokesman for the company told Techradar. French legal holders ask, explains the provider, Proton VPN and other VPN services to block over 200 sites. VPN providers would also be required to update this block list continuously.
“This injunction is undoubtedly an open door to other assaults in the future and would undermine VPNs themselves is unprecedented in Western societies.
The VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), whose members include ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and other providers, also warn that the blockage of VPNs would have “sweeping consequences” that could jeopardize the security and privacy of the French citizens.
“By requiring this group of security and privacy, VPN providers to limit access is this measure not only unjustified, but also exposes French residents to significant new cyber security risks, which undermines their security online,” the coalition wrote in a public statement.
With the most secure VPN apps that are blocked, experts explain, French VPN users will be pushed against alternative and less secure services, De-Facto that make VPN-blocking an ineffective measure against piracy.
Not only that. The French case could set up a precedent around the world in the fight against VPN usage – whose most important offenders of the day are authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, Myanmar and Iran – pave the way for greater censorship, more broadly around the world.
“This case represents far more than a local legal dispute,” the VPN coalition wrote. “Introducing the blockage of VPNs in France, significant overreach risks where legitimate and non-abhorring content can be cut off. This is raising alarms to unfairly limit individual rights of freedom to information and expression.”
What is the next?
With the first legal audience until March 11, 2025 – as reported by Torrentfreak – it is early to predict what could happen.
However, a Canal+ victory would certainly send some shock waves throughout the right -wing industry, though with music, movies and other copyright realities, in and out of France, potentially afterwards.
However, VPN providers are unwilling to give up their user’s internet freedoms so easily.
By commenting on this, Proton VPN said to Techradar: “These companies carry out a common syn attack on users online freedom for their own commercial interests. Proton is determined to fight this trial up to the European Court of Justice.”
