- Cloudflare has begun to block many pirate domains for users in UK
- Hundreds of illegal streaming venues could be affected
- This is the first time an Internet intermediary has begun to block pirate sites in UK
Cloudflare has just begun to block access to certain pirate streaming sites – but only for users in the UK.
Pirate streaming venues are already commonly blocked by most of the largest ISPs (ISPs) in the UK. However, these restrictions can often be dealt with using one of the best VPN providers. Not this time – using a British VPN end point still triggers the block and prevents the site from loading.
Cloudflare blocked the websites due to a legal order, probably issued by Motion Picture Association (MPA). According to reports, up to 200 domains could be affected by this new block.
Cloudflare blocks illegal streams in the UK for the first time
CloudFlar’s block on pirate flow of sites in the UK appears to have come into force this month, but the legal case may have started as early as February 2024.
Because of this block, users trying to visit pirate streaming venues face a mistake. CloudFlares Error HTTP 451 is reserved for situations where a site is blocked due to legal reasons.
However, Cloudflare does not appear to be a party to this conflict. As the Lumen database reveals, a private law firm provided a court decision to Google, where he stated 14 sites – but Torrentfreak estimates that as many as 200 pirate domains could be affected.
Many British citizens are already used to pirate flow venues blocking. ISPS like BT, Virgin Media and Sky usually perform these blocks after court decisions, which means many users will never even see the error message from Cloudflare – their ISPs will block the site from loading first. However, these blocks are easily dealt with with a VPN that allows you to keep your activities private.
Many users often connect to a VPN server based in the same country to avoid high latency, but CloudFlore’s commitment makes it impossible. If the ISP does not catch it, CloudFlare will.
Can you still use a VPN to access these sites?
CloudFlore’s block goes beyond what any ISP can place on a given site. When geo-blocking is used, the websites are simply inaccessible in the UK, points blank.
For the first time, it also means that using a virtual private network (VPN) does not bypass these restrictions as long as the server is based in the UK.
Although we are unable to test this yourself, it can still help bypassing these blocks. Remember that this content is considered illegal and Techradar does not condolence using VPNs to access pirate sites.
An increase in orders against piracy
Cloudflare operates one of the fastest public DNS (domain name system) resolvers in the world. It is responsible for connecting billions of users to their desired sites, and as such it can also step in and block them to do so before a network -changing tool can interfere. This is why these blocks also affect VPN users.
Cloudflare criticized former anti-piracy networks that are blocked as ineffective and overreaction. The company has previously told Techradar that “Network blocking will never be the solution.”
CloudFlares Vice President and Global leader of public politics, Alissa Starzak, went so far as to say that such efforts have security effects and they “destroy the Internet.” Cloudflare has even filed an appeal to the Spanish Constitutional Court earlier this year and tried to fight IP blocking during La Liga football matches.
DNS providers are not the only ones targeted in Europe, as the efforts to get rid of piracy continues.
Canal+, a larger French streaming provider, scored a legal victory in May when a landmark decision ordered five popular VPN providers to block access to 200+ illegal sports flow venues. However, this triggered questions about where the line between fighting piracy and censorship is really drawn.
