Bad times for fans of pirated content: following a new court decision, operators will have to block dozens of illegal download and streaming sites.
2024 is likely to be remembered as a dark year for fans of pirated content. A new court decision has just required the main French Internet service providers (Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR) to block illegal download and streaming sites. This is the third time since February that this type of measure has been put in place following actions taken by several audiovisual production companies and organizations defending rights holders, such as the National Federation of Film Publishers (FNEF), the Digital Video Publishing Union (SEVN), the Union of Film Producers (UPC), the Association of Independent Producers (API), the National Center for Cinema and the Animated Image (CNCIA) and Paramount Pictures Corporation, Gaumont (see our article).
As in previous times, the text of the court decision RG n° 24/06264 of the Paris Judicial Court stipulates that ISPs must prevent access to a series of sites by applying appropriate measures. “These measures must be implemented without delay, and at the latest on expiry of a period of 15 days following the notification of this decision, and for a period of 18 months”, specifies the text which explicitly gives the list of the areas concerned, namely:
- 1.dlhd.sx
- 26216.stunserver.net
- adisports.xyz
- allworldhd.net
- bestmlb.buffstream.io
- bienstream.org
- centralareana.live
- claplivehdplay.ru
- cpasmieux.pics
- crichd.vip
- crvsport.ru
- daddylivehd.icu
- elixx.xyz
- fan2.financefirefly.com
- fan5.wellnessjourney.pro
- fan6.travelplanspro.com
- filmoflix.to
- fiveyardlab.com
- freestreams-live1se.nu
- french-streaming.buzz
- futbolenvivo.ru
- f1livestream.xyz
- godzcast.com
- hdss.app
- hdss.watch
- juststream.golf
- lesseriestreaming.org
- livetv.lol
- livetv764.me
- livetv765.me
- livetv768.me
- ldcstreaming.info
- monstream.ing
- papadustream.bz
- primefoot.ru
- sadisflix.ink
- senpai-stream.fr
- sporttuna.com
- sporttuna.site
- sporttuna.sx
- streamonsport.ru
- streameast.buffstream.io
- streams.score808.football
- top2.financefirefly.com
- totalsportek.soccer
- volkastream.xyz
- wikiserie.info
Among the banned sites, we obviously find well-known platforms offering films and series for download and/or streaming, such as Bienstream, Flimoflix or Cpasmieux, which regularly reappear with other addresses (URLs). But it should be noted this time that the focus was also placed on sites broadcasting sports in streaming: a sensitive area, since the associated television rights are counted in millions of euros and any piracy represents a huge loss of revenue for broadcasters and rights holders.
Blocking pirate sites: will DNS changes soon be an end?
It is always surprising to see that the court decision clearly indicates the list of sites affected by this blocking measure, which could give ideas and desires to enthusiasts. Especially since, as we have seen, most of the targeted domains are still perfectly accessible to this day. And for good reason: access providers generally just block addresses through their DNS servers, these kinds of directories that establish the correspondence between site names and their real addresses on the Internet (the famous IP addresses). A common technique that is very easy to circumvent by using alternative DNS servers as we explain in our practical sheet. Not to mention that all these sites regularly change URLs precisely to escape the blocking measures. In short, it is an eternal game of cat and mouse that is not about to stop
Although. It seems that the impunity acquired thanks to the DNS change is no longer an absolute defense. Because, in parallel with the actions carried out by organizations linked to the cinema, a complaint filed by Canal+ forced OpenDNS, a subsidiary of the giant Cisco which offers alternative DNS servers, to interrupt its services in France, to fight against the piracy of sporting events. “As of June 28, 2024, due to a court decision in France issued under Article L.333-10 of the French Sports Code and a court decision in Portugal issued under Article 210-G(3) of the Portuguese Copyright Code, the OpenDNS service is currently unavailable to users in France and certain French territories and Portugal. We apologize for the inconvenience.”we can read in the short blog post published a few days ago by the American company.
Of course, the shutdown of OIpenDNS in France does not put an end to the practice, as there are many other free alternative DNS services (see our article). But it heralds a notable change that could extend to other providers. It already clearly indicates that justice is now very sensitive to the arguments and requests of audiovisual and sports companies. And we imagine that they will not stick to these first measures, especially with the support of Arcom. Yes, the weather could still get worse for fans of pirated content in the coming weeks…