{"id":85243,"date":"2025-09-22T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=85243"},"modified":"2025-09-22T09:00:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T09:00:49","slug":"piracy-over-blocking-victims-turn-to-the-blockchain-hoping-to-make-laliga-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=85243","title":{"rendered":"Piracy Over-Blocking Victims Turn to the Blockchain Hoping to Make LaLiga Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cloudblock-1.png\" alt=\"cloudblock\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-272311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cloudblock-1.png 500w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/cloudblock-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/cloudblock-1-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">For top-tier football clubs around Europe, the start of a new season means the resumption of match-day anti-piracy measures and a prime opportunity to remind errant fans that piracy isn\u2019t risk-free. Warnings usually appear in the media, often timed to coincide with real-life examples of why piracy should be avoided. <\/p>\n<p>In Ireland, reports claimed that Sky and FACT had begun <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/arid-41697941.html\">targeting retailers<\/a> for selling pirate set-top boxes, a first according to FACT. Those reports coincided with an <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/ace-shuts-down-giant-streameast-piracy-ring-but-the-original-survives-250903\/\">announcement<\/a> from ACE revealing the closure of Streameast, a very large live sports streaming network that hijacked the branding of the original to gain traffic.<\/p>\n<h2>LaLiga\u2019s Issues Piracy Warning But Leaves One Piracy Threat Out<\/h2>\n<p>Spain\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/laliga-warns-you-get-pirated-football-they-get-you\/\">LaLiga opted for a campaign<\/a> highlighting the dangers of piracy, warning that \u201cYou Get Pirated Football, They Get You.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>This is a reference to identity theft, financial fraud, malware, and privacy risks. Unfortunately, an illustrative screenshot is not available below due to YouTube\u2019s tightening response to VPN use.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/vpn-youtube.png\" alt=\"vpn-youtube\" width=\"628\" height=\"441\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-272314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/vpn-youtube.png 628w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vpn-youtube-300x211.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vpn-youtube-600x421.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vpn-youtube-150x105.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Yet, as Spaniards are by now well aware, the effects of LaLiga\u2019s fight against piracy are not just real, but visibly so when match blocking takes place several times each week.<\/p>\n<p>Under the <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/spain-piracy-crisis-cloudflare-says-laliga-knew-danger-blocked-ip-address-anyway-250211\/\">authority of an order<\/a> issued by a judge, LaLiga continues to block IP addresses belonging to companies including Cloudflare, on the basis they\u2019re used by pirate sites. However, the same IP addresses are also shared with entirely legal websites which, through no fault of their own, also find themselves blocked.<\/p>\n<p>LaLiga\u2019s has a difficult choice when IP addresses are shared; it can block pirate sites and risk blocking any number of innocent sites at the same time, or protect innocent sites by walking away, having blocked no pirate sites at all. Having decided that the law <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/judge-confirms-laligas-right-to-block-cloudflare-in-pursuit-of-iptv-pirates-250328\/\">protects its position<\/a>, the league points towards Cloudflare as the source of the problem, while insisting that nothing of value gets blocked anyway.<\/p>\n<h2>Overblocking Returns But Meets a Trail of Evidence<\/h2>\n<p>LaLiga says that if anyone falls victim to over-blocking, they are free to file a complaint. Since it has received no complaints thus far, that\u2019s interpreted as a clear sign that over-blocking doesn\u2019t exist. In practical terms, however, attributing a website failure to over-blocking is extremely difficult for anyone other than the tech-savvy; proving it in the face of an insistence that over-blocking doesn\u2019t even exist, is all but impossible without expensive, expert help. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, if a new service lives up to its claims, that might be about to change. Operating from estalapagas.com (translated: \u2018You Pay For This\u2019) the Immutable Domain Monitor claims to offer a domain monitoring system. The system will monitor domains registered by users, check for any ISP blocking that affects those domains and, if any is detected, begin logging evidence. According to a notice on its front page, demand appears to be brisk.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/immutable-dmv2.png\" alt=\"immutable dmv2\" width=\"670\" height=\"492\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-272312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/immutable-dmv2.png 868w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/immutable-dmv2-300x221.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/immutable-dmv2-600x441.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/immutable-dmv2-150x110.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are a community of net lovers documenting every attack on online freedom,\u201d text on the site notes. \u201cWho gave La Liga the right to make their content worth more than yours? Why can they trample on your freedom every weekend? The internet belongs to everyone and we all defend it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the team behind the service, match days are automatically certified and immutable logs (that cannot be modified or deleted) are cryptographically linked and stored on the blockchain, signed in BTC and ETH.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith blockchain we leave an eternal record: no court, company, or power can erase the evidence. Each record is signed in time with OpenTimestamps and OriginStamp, ensuring its validity and authenticity. What we document today will still be there tomorrow, and a hundred years from now too,\u201d the team add.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt that to have any chance of success, a challenge to the status quo must be supported by robust evidence. In that respect, using the blockchain makes perfect sense. Ensuring that the evidence is validated before entry is vital. <\/p>\n<p>That might mean verifying the existence of an IP address block with a third party, input from Cloudflare, for example. In any event, a time-stamped notification to Cloudflare advising that blocking is underway might prove useful. <\/p>\n<p>The system as described has the potential to play a very important role, but the team may also face additional issues, sooner rather than later, that aren\u2019t directly addressed on the site. <\/p>\n<h2>Anonymous Team and Other Potential Pitfalls<\/h2>\n<p>On the service\u2019s website, Immutable Domain Monitor describes itself as a \u201ccommunity of web lovers made up of developers, users, and activists committed to internet freedom.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>They state they are not a commercial company, but a \u201ccommunity initiative that uses blockchain technology as a tool for documentation and transparency.\u201d The team\u2019s mission is outlined in a series of bullet points.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We document attacks on digital freedom because we believe in:<\/p>\n<p><small>Digital Equality: All domains deserve the same protection<\/small><br \/>\n<small>Transparency: Blocks must be public, clear, and without harming third parties<\/small><br \/>\n<small>Due Process: We reject arbitrary blocks and demand analysis and justification<\/small><br \/>\n<small>Right to Information: Free access to legal content<\/small><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>From a community perspective the team clearly understands the critical issues. Yet total anonymity for the developers is both prudent on one hand, and a potential problem on the other. <\/p>\n<p>If nobody is obviously accountable, the quality of the evidence could be vulnerable to a determined attack. Whether a mechanism exists to preserve anonymity, especially in the event that data needs to be presented in court, isn\u2019t clear. A known and trusted \u201cmiddle man\u201d may be useful to confirm authenticity, build up trust in the media, also to protect the interests of the people intending to sign up.<\/p>\n<p>One issue briefly raised by the team itself is the GDPR which may need to be addressed quite quickly. If there\u2019s one thing that large corporations are mostly good at it\u2019s compliance with regulations; noncompliance by a legal rival is likely to be spotted very quickly and could develop into an unwanted distraction.<\/p>\n<p>Overall it\u2019s good to see any initiative that genuinely aims to solve a really serious problem that isn\u2019t getting the attention, or indeed the support, that it very obviously deserves.<\/p>\n<p>From: <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/\">TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wpematico_credit\"><small>Powered by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wpematico.com\" target=\"_blank\">WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For top-tier football clubs around Europe, the start of a new season means the resumption of match-day anti-piracy measures and a prime opportunity to remind errant fans that piracy isn\u2019t risk-free. Warnings usually appear in the media, often timed to coincide with real-life examples of why piracy should be avoided. In Ireland, reports claimed that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}