- Cloudflare has begun to block many pirate domains for users in the United Kingdom
- Hundreds of illegal transmission sites could be affected
- This is the first time that an Internet intermediary began blocking pirate sites in the United Kingdom
Cloudflare has just begun to block access to certain pirate transmission websites, but only for users in the United Kingdom.
Pirate transmission sites are already commonly blocked by most largest Internet services (ISP) in the United Kingdom. However, those restrictions can often be avoided using one of the best VPN suppliers. Not this time: the use of a VPN end point of the United Kingdom still triggers the block, preventing the website from being loaded.
Cloudflare blocked the websites due to a legal order, most likely issued by the Picture Association (MPA). According to reports, up to 200 domains could be affected by this new block.
Cloudflare blocks illegal transmissions in the United Kingdom for the first time
The Cloudflare block on the pirate transmission websites in the United Kingdom seems to have entered into force this month, but the legal case may have begun as soon as February 2024.
Due to this block, users trying to visit the pirate transmission sites face an error. Cloudflare HTTP 451 error is reserved for situations when a website is blocked for legal reasons.
However, Cloudflare does not seem to be part in this conflict. As the Lumen database reveals, a private law firm delivered a court order to Google, listing 14 websites, but Torrentfreak estimates that up to 200 pirate domains could be affected.
Many citizens of the United Kingdom are already accustomed to the pirate transmission sites that are blocked. The ISPs such as BT, Virgin Media and Sky generally carry out these blocks after judicial orders, which means that many users will never see the cloudflare error message: their ISP will block that the website is loaded first. However, these blocks are easily omitted with a VPN, which allows you to maintain your private activities.
Many users often connect to a VPN server based on the same country to avoid high latency, but Cloudflare’s participation makes it impossible. If the ISP does not catch it, I cloudflare in itself.
Can you still use a VPN to access these websites?
The Cloudflare block goes beyond what any ISP can locate on any website. As the geographical blockade is used, websites are simply not available in the United Kingdom, blank.
For the first time, this also means that the use of a virtual private network (VPN) will not avoid these restrictions, provided that the server is based in the United Kingdom.
Although we cannot prove this ourselves, connect with a VPN based on the United Kingdom could still help to avoid these blocks. Keep in mind that this content is considered illegal, and Techradar does not approve the use of VPN to access pirate websites.
An increase in antipyertorous orders
Cloudflare operates one of the fastest public DNS resolvers (domain name system) in the world. He is responsible for connecting billions of users with their desired websites and, as such, can also intervene and block them to do so before any network change tool can interfere. That is why these blocks also affect VPN users.
Cloudflare previously criticized the blockade of the antipirable network as an ineffective and overreach. The company has previously said to PakGazette that “the network block will never be the solution.”
The vice president of Cloudflare and the head of global public policy, Alissa Starzak, came to say that such efforts have collateral effects and are “ruining the Internet.” Cloudflare has even presented an appeal before the Spanish Constitutional Court earlier this year, trying to combat the IP blocking during the league football matches.
DNS suppliers are not the only ones attacked in Europe, as efforts continue to get rid of piracy.
Canal+, an important French transmission provider, obtained a legal victory in May when a historical failure ordered five popular VPN suppliers to block access to more than 200 illegal sports transmission sites. This, however, caused questions about where the line is drawn between the fight against piracy and censorship.
