Article 10 of the new law rewrites the section of the previous sports law, Article L. 333-10, which rights holders have used to block pirate streaming sites in recent years.<\/p>\n
From Manual Checks\u2026<\/h2>\n
Under the old system, a rightsholder would obtain a blocking order in court, targeting specific domain names. These orders would require ISPs, DNS resolvers, or VPN services to block access on their systems.<\/p>\n
If new domains were spotted later, rightsholders would send these to ARCOM, whose sworn agents would confirm that each one is streaming matches illegally before ISPs are ordered to block these.<\/p>\n
One of these older orders was issued on July 8 by the Court of Paris. In that case, the French football league (LFP) won a block against nine Internet providers, covering the full 2026\/2027 season, with ARCOM having to approve each new site that\u2019s added along the way.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/lfpblock.png.webp)
<\/picture><\/a><\/center> <\/p>\nThe order lists 30 domains and their associated subdomains, including kzontop.com, ligue1live.xyz, iptvfrancai.com, euroiptv.fr and sportsurge100.is.<\/p>\n
\u2026To Automated Blocks<\/h2>\n
Under the old system, it can take days before a new target is added. That\u2019s a problem when dealing with live-streaming piracy, one that the new law aims to fix.<\/p>\n
The new law strips out the pre-check of domain names (or IP addresses) that are added after the initial order is issued. It lets ARCOM run an automated system that pushes freshly identified targets straight to providers during a live broadcast. The providers then have to take action \u201cwithout delay\u201d.<\/p>\n
ARCOM\u2019s agents no longer approve each block in advance, but they keep an oversight role. They will now audit the new additions afterward, and a blocked party can appeal to ARCOM\u2019s president, even while the targeted sports event is ongoing.<\/p>\n
The new law is expected to significantly increase the volume of blocked sites and services, with the goal to further deter live-streaming piracy.<\/p>\n
The judicial process leading up to the blocks barely changes, with one significant exception. Foreign entities that organize or hold rights to competitions abroad can now bring these actions in French courts themselves, opening the door for Spain\u2019s LaLiga and England\u2019s Premier League.<\/p>\n
The groundwork for the blocking scheme was already laid. Under a private 2025 agreement between rights holders and ISPs, first\u00a0revealed by L\u2019Inform\u00e9<\/a>, the parties tested\u00a0real-time IP address blocking<\/a>\u00a0during the 2026 World Cup, with ARCOM involved.<\/p>\n French officials have not hidden the inspiration for the new law. In a study delivered to the Assembl\u00e9e nationale\u00a0in December 2025<\/a>, the regulator recommended this automated real-time system, citing foreign precedents including Italy\u2019s \u201cPiracy Shield\u201d.<\/p>\n The head of Italy\u2019s own regulator AGCOM, Massimiliano Capitanio, publicly welcomed the vote\u00a0on Instagram<\/a>, describing it as France adopting a version of its \u201cPiracy Shield\u201d model.<\/p>\n That comparison is sensitive. Italy\u2019s system has been heavily criticized for overblocking, at one point\u00a0knocking Cloudflare and countless unrelated sites offline<\/a>. European ISPs have since\u00a0demanded that rightsholders be held liable for overblocking damage<\/a>.<\/p>\n This critique is one of the reasons why ARCOM keeps a human supervision element in the takedown process. This is to avoid overblocking, which the regulator considered as being potentially unconstitutional in France.<\/p>\n With the new French law, yet another country moved to a more automated site blocking process. This follows the example of Italy and other countries, with support from rightsholders\u00a0including the Motion Picture Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n The updates to the French sports law still have to be implemented formally, which isn\u2019t expected to happen until later this year.<\/p>\n Whether existing orders like the LFP\u2019s will migrate to the automated system once it goes live, or whether only future orders will, is not yet clear. For now, however, France\u2019s pirate sports blocking still runs the old, manual way.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n The Sports Law, adopted on July 21, can be found via the Assembl\u00e9e nationale\u00a0dossier here<\/a>. A copy of the Court of Paris ruling in the LFP blocking case, issued on July 8, is available\u00a0here (pdf)<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Source: \u00a0Italy\u2019s \u201cPiracy Shield\u201d as Inspiration<\/h2>\n
Not Live Yet<\/h2>\n
![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"