Court Upholds Belgian Pirate DNS Blocking Order, OpenDNS Exit Looms
A Belgian court has upheld a significant anti piracy order requiring major alternative DNS providers, including Google, Cloudflare and Cisco, to block access to domains associated with illegal sports streaming. The injunction was originally obtained by sports rights holder DAZN and represents an expansion of site blocking beyond traditional internet service providers.
Belgium introduced the original blocking order in April 2025. It required major ISPs as well as public DNS services operated by Google, Cloudflare and Cisco to stop resolving designated piracy domains. Failure to comply initially carried potential penalties of €100,000 per day. Google and Cloudflare implemented blocking measures, while Cisco responded by withdrawing its OpenDNS service from Belgium before temporarily restoring it when the requirement was suspended pending a final ruling.
The final ruling, issued by the French speaking Business Court of Brussels, rejected the central arguments raised by the DNS providers. The court concluded that DNS level blocking is technically feasible and that Google, Cloudflare and Cisco had failed to demonstrate that the associated implementation costs would be disproportionate. Concerns about accidental blocking of users near Belgium’s borders because of geolocation inaccuracies were not sufficient to overturn the requirement.
The system is specifically designed to combat live sports piracy. DAZN can provide one updated blocking list each week containing up to 100 new domains associated with unauthorized streams of Belgian football competitions, including the Jupiler Pro League. The list has already expanded significantly, growing from an initial 58 domains to 258 domains.
Blocking is deliberately dynamic and temporary. Rather than keeping all domains permanently inaccessible, the restrictions are activated 90 minutes before matches begin. Belgian authorities believe this approach makes the measures harder for pirate operators and users to anticipate and circumvent before live events.
The court nevertheless introduced some limitations. DNS providers will not be required to redirect blocked users to warning pages. Financial penalties were also modified. The potential €100,000 daily fine now applies only on days when DAZN matches are broadcast live, with a maximum liability of €20 million per company. Exceptional geolocation errors resulting in incomplete blocking will not automatically trigger penalties.
Cisco remains strongly opposed to the requirement. The company argues that OpenDNS cannot implement selective, geographically targeted and dynamically changing blocking without potentially compromising the service’s performance, stability and security. Cisco therefore told Belgian authorities that withdrawing OpenDNS entirely from Belgium is the only practical compliance option available to it.
Belgian authorities have accepted withdrawal of the service as a form of compliance. Cisco has indicated that it intends to appeal the ruling, while OpenDNS currently remains operational in Belgium. Unless the appeal changes the situation, however, the service could become unavailable in the country again.
Overall, the ruling strengthens Belgium’s evolving approach to dynamic live piracy blocking, demonstrating how enforcement obligations are expanding beyond ISPs to public DNS infrastructure. It also highlights the growing conflict between sports rights holders seeking faster and broader blocking mechanisms and technology companies concerned about the technical consequences of implementing geographically targeted DNS restrictions.
