While site blocking efforts were a novelty in France a few years ago, they have since transformed into a streamlined annual ritual.
Ahead of each new football season, broadcaster Canal+ goes to the Paris Judicial Court, requesting site blocking orders to stop pirate streaming sites and services.
Over several years, these blocking requests have grown from simple ISP blocks to cover DNS resolvers, CDN providers, VPN services, and search engines. Initially these orders were scattered, but a batch signed last month reveals a clear pattern.
On July 17, Vice-President Irène Benac signed the latest batch. The fourteen orders are split evenly between the 2026/2027 Champions League and Premier League seasons. These two batches cover every type of intermediary Canal+ has pursued since 2022, all in one coordinated action.
ISPs, DNS, CDN, VPNs, and Search Engines
The Premier League orders target 47 domain names and the Champions League orders cover 26 domain names. This includes ones using popular brands such as Totalsportek, LiveTV, Kevinsport, as well as various IPTV gateways. An overview of all domain names is available below.
The ISP orders will have the most direct impact. They cover France’s largest providers, including Orange, SFR, Free, and Bouygues Telecom, who all have to block access to the listed domain names. The other orders aim to cover potential bypasses.
If subscribers try to get around these ISP blocks by switching to an alternative DNS resolver, the orders against Google DNS, Cloudflare DNS, Quad9 and DNS4EU prevent this. The latter two did not present a defense in court.
| Category | Targeted Services | Action | EPL (RG) | UCL (RG) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISPs & Telecoms | Orange, Free, SFR, Bouygues, plus overseas operators (SPM, Telco OI, UTS Caraïbe, Zeop, etc.) | Block domains/subdomains for subscribers in France. | 26/08401 | 26/08386 |
| DNS, CDN & Proxy | Cloudflare | Block across DNS resolver, CDN, and reverse proxy. | 26/08356 | 26/08361 |
| Public DNS | Google Public DNS | Block domain resolution for French users. | 26/08379 | 26/08380 |
| Public DNS | Quad9 & Whalebone (DNS4EU) | Block resolution; both defaulted. | 26/08377 | 26/08378 |
| VPN | Proton VPN | Block access via VPN; defaulted, provisional order. | 26/08364 | 26/08366 |
| VPN | CyberGhost & ExpressVPN | Block access via VPN; contested and lost. | 26/08368 | 26/08371 |
| Search Engines | Google Search & Microsoft Bing | De-index (déréférencement) targeted domains in France. | 26/08382 | 26/08383 |
Notes: All fourteen orders were issued on July 17, 2026 by the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris (Vice-President Irène Benac). Enforcement is required within three days (five for UTS Caraïbe). Blocks run for the 2026/2027 seasons — Premier League (47 domains) until May 30, 2027, and Champions League (26 domains) until June 5, 2027 — and can be updated dynamically through ARCOM.
The Cloudflare orders are not limited to the 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver either. The Internet infrastructure company must also block the domains across its CDN, and its reverse proxy service under the same rulings, by whatever technical means it chooses.
The orders add search engines in the same sweep. Google and Microsoft Bing are ordered to de-index the domains, so they no longer surface in results for users in France.
Finally, VPN services are covered as well. Canal+ secured orders against Proton, CyberGhost, and ExpressVPN, to shut down another bypass. That part of the blocking batch was also the most heavily contested, as covered below.
All the blocks are dynamic. This means that domains can be added throughout the season once ARCOM, France’s audiovisual regulator, approves them. The Premier League measures run from August 22, 2026 to May 30, 2027, while the Champions League blocks expire on June 5, 2027.
VPN Defense Fails
Canal+ previously named five VPN providers in previous seasons. This round it pursued only three, dropping NordVPN and Surfshark without explanation.
The most detailed defense came from CyberGhost and ExpressVPN. They first asked the court to pause the case pending a referral to the EU Court of Justice. This is the Anne Frank Stichting case, which was decided shortly before the Paris ruling and shielded VPNs from liability in a copyright dispute.
The Paris court already refused to pause the case, explaining that the Anne Frank case concerns a different directive and a publication that was itself lawful, which is different from the pirate streaming sites that are at stake here.
The VPN providers further argued that Article L. 333-10 of the Sports Code conflicts with the EU E-Commerce Directive and should be set aside. The court disagreed, stressing that this is a dispute between private companies. Since an EU directive has no “horizontal direct effect,” a national law can’t be disapplied on that basis.
The court also spelled out why a neutral intermediary can be required to take action, as it enables the transmission of infringing content. The “mere act of serving as a bridge enabling access to the infringing sites fulfills the transmission function,” the ruling states (translated).
The court stressed that, even though an intermediary may act passively and neutrally, it can still be an essential link in transferring infringing data.
Google also pushed back in response to the DNS and search orders. It questioned whether Canal+ had enforceable exclusive rights in France, and argued that the Canal+ companies had not proven repeated infringements per channel for every disputed domain. The court rejected both these points.
Up Next: Automated Real-Time Blocking
The orders were issued on July 17 but haven’t been picked up in the press, as far as we know. With hindsight, the timing is notable, as they were handed down just four days before the French Parliament adopted a new sports law that rewrites the blocking process.
As we reported previously, the law replaces the current manual system, where ARCOM agents verify each domain before a block, with an automated process that can add new targets in real time during a live broadcast. ARCOM’s agents keep a review role, but after the fact rather than before.
The law has not yet been implemented; that’s expected later this year. For now, these orders still run under the old framework. However, if the new law is implemented, Canal+ and other rightsholders will likely switch as soon as they can.
The Premier League order targets these domain names.
1. abcsport.tel
2. akhtv.online
3. antenasport.org
4. empire-sports.store
5. kevinsport.org
6. livetv880.me
7. livetv882.me
8. sports24.cc
9. streamonsport.art
10. totalsporteki.com
11. witv.team
12. xuperlive.com
13. abcsport.top
14. liveon5.zip
15. zac01bp.mpipzni2naturally32kistomach.ru
16. zac22bp.mpipzni2naturally32kistomach.ru
17. lovetier.bz
18. kevinsport.lat
19. kevinsport.mom
20. strongst.link
21. kevinsport.best
22. fisherman.click
23. cdn.livetv880.me
24. emb.apl407.me
25. cdn.livetv882.me
26. livetv883.me
27. cdn.livetv883.me
28. kiratop.site
29. livetv884.me
30. cdn.livetv884.me
31. livetv885.me
32. cdn.livetv885.me
33. wilderness.click
34. woundsilk.net
35. totalsportek.wales
36. streamlycdn.com
37. sports-rope.top
38. l2l2.link
39. totalsportek.company
40. live.totalsportek.fyi
41. yallalive.cfd
42. iptv-abonnement.tv
43. ott-premium.tv
44. iptvpremium-europe.com
45. cf.orion-2026.xyz
46. smartippon.com
47. line.snssmarters.store
The Champions League orders cover the following domain names.
1. empire-sport.live
2. empire-sports.store
3. kevinsport.org
4. kzontop.site
5. sports24.cc
6. sportsonline.vc
7. streamonsport.art
8. witv.team
9. kevinsport.lat
10. kevinsport.quest
11. lovetier.bz
12. kevinsport.homes
13. kzontop.space
14. wilderness.click
15. v3.sportssonline.click
16. 7y306yg5flk3x4.dynmaspect.net
17. j7x31108tgeg77x.dynmaspect.net
18. woundsilk.net
19. swopglow.net
20. iptv-abonnement.tv
21. tv.business-cloud-8k.ru
22. cf.orion-2026.xyz
23. ott-premium.tv
24. smartippon.com
25. iptvpremium-europe.com
26. line.snssmarters.store
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