- The films Association (MPA) is pressing for VPN suppliers, proxies and content delivery systems to cooperate with antipiratría measures
- The MPA also urges the EU to adopt an automated system that can block the pirated content in real time, without the need for court approval.
- Italy and France have already begun to force some VPN and DNS services to block access to illegal transmission sites
After sports transmission groups, the film industry is now pressing For VPN suppliers, proxies and content delivery systems to help fight online piracy in Europe.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA), a group that represents Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. and other important transmission giants, urges European countries to adopt an automated system that can block the pirated content in real time, without requiring the approval of the court. Crucially, the MPA demands that the VPN and other intermediary services must cooperate actively blocking the illegal transmission content.
This occurs only a few days after Canal+ won a legal victory in France, since some of the best VPN service providers received the order to block access to 203 domains linked to illegal sports transmission sites.
MPA demands
Responding to a 2023 investigation of the EU Commission, the MPA presented some detailed comments on May 25, 2025, as Torrent Freak first reported it.
Specifically, the group pointed out that, although the EU framework currently gives rights holders some powerful tools, there are inconsistencies between EU countries in the implementation of blocking laws to successfully address the infractions of copyright.
“It must focus on guaranteeing its effective implementation in all EU member states,” the MPA wrote in a letter.
One way to do it, according to the group, is to allow rights holders to act quickly when copyright infractions occur, especially when it comes to live content.
“Therefore, MPA supports the automated blocking mechanisms of effective sites that can be updated in real time with appropriate safeguards to address emerging offenders,” said the group, mentioning real -time blocks that are already in force in Italy, Greece, Portugal and Brazil.
However, to do so, Internet service providers (ISP) should not only play a key role in pirated content blockade. The MPA also presses for the cooperation of all other service providers that can connect users to piracy sites.
“This includes inverse proxy suppliers, content delivery networks (CDN), accommodation suppliers, VPN and search engines,” MPA said.
VPNS, DNS Services warn against the risk of blocking orders
Short for the domain name system, a DNS server acts as the Internet telephone guide by translating users requests into numbers (IP addresses) to connect them with the correct websites on the web. A DNS also plays a key role in the way a content delivery network (CDN) works to enable efficient traffic routing and optimize content delivery.
A virtual private network (VPN) is a safety software that masks the real IP addresses of users. While this ability is crucial to avoid strict Internet restrictions imposed by the Government, it can also be used as a solution for current tactics against piracy that involve blocking access to piracy sites based on the user navigation location.
That is why, according to the MPA: “Do not involve these actors undermines the effectiveness of dynamic mandates, since pirates trust them more and more to obscure their infrastructure and evade the application.”
While asking CDN, DNS and VPN to block the illegal content, they seem to be the way to follow for rights holders, these suppliers have been warning that these measures could damage the infrastructure on which the Internet is based.
As a recent report pointed out, in fact, Internet blockage can lead to excessive incidents and internet fragmentation. In Italy, for example, the country’s piracy shield system caused generalized interruptions on other platforms such as Google Drive.
That is why, according to the leading DNS and CDN supplier, Cloudflare, “the network block will never be the solution” and suggested that we must think of any Internet block such as Internet censorship.
Tensions between rights holders and Internet services have now intensified as VPN services enter the fray. As mentioned above, a French court recently ordered five VPN suppliers to block access to more than 200 illegal sports sites. Italy has shared plans to extend obligations against piracy to DNS and VPN suppliers too.
However, the VPN industry warns that this creates “a dangerous precedent”, which could have a chilling effect on all the people who use these services to protect their privacy and security.
