Canal+ has secured a ruling from the Paris Judicial Court ordering the blocking of over 200 domain names associated with illegal sports streaming sites by five VPN providers.In accordance with the ruling, a legal first, VPN providers NordVPN, CyberGhost, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and Proton are now required to block access to 203 domain names used to illegally stream UEFA Champions League, Premier League and TOP 14 matches — three competitions for which Canal+ holds exclusive broadcasting rights in France.Canal+ has welcomed this decision, saying it “sends a strong message regarding the responsibility of VPN providers — recognised for the first time as technical intermediaries — in the illegal broadcasting of sports content”.Canal+ added it “is proud to have initiated this major step forward in the fight against sports piracy in France and beyond, setting a legal precedent”.Following previous court orders obtained in 2022 targeting illegal streaming sites via Internet Service Providers, in 2024 via alternative DNS providers, and in 2025 via CDN and proxy services, this new ruling against VPNs is fully aligned with Canal+’s strategy to hold all types of technical intermediaries accountable in the battle against audiovisual piracy. In 2024 alone, Canal+ obtained the blocking of over 1,300 domain names in France.
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