- The piracy shield of Italy has caused the scrutiny of European legislators
- The EU Commission sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy to warn that it does not comply with the EU digital services law.
- The Italian antipiratería system has so far led to significant incidents of excess blocking that caused strong criticism
The infamous antipiratry system of Italy, the piracy shield, can be violating European law.
On June 13, 2025, the EU Commission sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Antonio Tajani, warning that the piracy shield may not comply with the rules of the Digital Services Law (DSA). The system, according to legislators, can even undermine the fundamental rights of citizens to freedom of expression and information as ruled by the EU fundamental rights letter.
The piracy shield of Italy allows the authorities not only to require ISP, but also VPN and DNS suppliers, to block the alleged pirated content in 30 minutes. A characteristic praised by wasteful in the country, which also led to important incidents of excess blocking and caused strong criticisms throughout the industry.
What about the piracy shield of Italy?
Italy first enforced its piracy shield system in February 2024 to prevent citizens from accessing live sporting events through pirate sites, especially football matches. To do so, right -wing sholders may demand that domain names and IP addresses related to piracy suspected of copyright infringement are blocked in 30 minutes.
The Italian antipirable system has proven effective so far. However, technological companies have been raising concerns with EU authorities about multiple incidents of excess blocking that have even affected Google’s legitimate domains.
Specifically, the Association of the Computing and Communications Industry (CCIA) warned against the lack of transparency about the blockade and lack of support for those unfairly blocked sites.
These concerns have caused an EU investigation into the technical details of the Antipiría System of Italy, which has highlighted some notable problems.
The legislators indicated how the DSA “does not provide a legal basis for the issuance of orders of national administrative or judicial authorities, nor regulates the application of such orders”, inviting Italian authorities to clarify how these procedures meet the DSA requirements in the final text.
Crucially, the letter also emphasizes that “the effective approach to illegal content must also take into account the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information under the EU fundamental rights letter.”
It is likely that this point is linked to the DecoCcom Communication Regulator decision to demand from DNS and Virtual Private Network (VPN) suppliers that they actively block alleged presumed illegal currents at request.
Privacy experts and technologists have previously pointed out to address VPN suppliers could have “radical consequences” for people’s safety and privacy. A VPN supplier (AirVPN), in fact, has already stopped accepting new Italian subscribers.
“A model of not doing”
While we must wait to see if the comments of the EU commission will change the way Italy is about illegal transmission in the future, that is certainly not an isolated case.
Other European countries have increasingly used such a blockade at the infrastructure level against pirated content or other harmful content, which caused concerns among the industry.
France, for example, has recently adopted a strong position against VPN suppliers. After successful legal action against DNS services in 2024, on May 15, 2025, the Paris Judicial Court supported the application of Canal+and ordered five of the best VPN services of Techradar: Nordvpn, Expressvpn, Surfshark, Proton VPN and Cyberghost, to block access to 203 domains linked to illegal sports transfers.
Spanish sports, LaLiga and Telefónica transmission giants have also broadcast more and more IP blocking orders since February 2025. Again, this tactic has led to many excessive incidents, with Google sources, institutional sites and payment platforms among legitimate domains that are wrongly blocked so far. That is why the DNS giant based in the United States.
However, according to the executive director of I2coalition, Christian Dawson, Italy, remains the worst example.
Dawson told Techradar: “The number of problems we are seeing with the piracy shield of Italy is remarkable, and we want the rest of Europe to see it as a warning story. We do it. However, it worries that many other Member States are looking for the piracy shield of Italy as a model, and we believe it is a model of exactly what to do. “
