The Battle Over IP Blocking: NordVPN vs. LaLiga in Spanish Courts

The intersection of copyright law and network infrastructure is often a collision course. In a recent legal battle in Spain, the Commercial Court of Córdoba has declined to request coercive fines against NordVPN, marking a significant moment in the ongoing struggle between sports leagues and the providers of privacy tools.

The Conflict: Dynamic Injunctions and VPNs

In February, the Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba designated VPN services as "technological intermediaries," ordering NordVPN and ProtonVPN to actively block IP addresses hosting illegal LaLiga football streams. This "dynamic" injunction was granted without the companies being heard and without an immediate right of appeal, placing the burden of censorship on the VPN providers.

NordVPN and ProtonVPN immediately questioned the jurisdiction of the Spanish court, as both companies are incorporated outside the European Union. However, the core of the dispute shifted from jurisdictional arguments to the technical realities of how the internet works.

The Technical Impasse: Overblocking and Volatility

LaLiga sought to punish NordVPN with fines for non-compliance. However, the court declined this request, accepting that there was a genuine technical dispute. NordVPN presented two primary arguments that the court found relevant:

1. IP Volatility: The flagged IP addresses changed frequently—often within hours. By the time a blocking order was implemented, the lists provided by LaLiga were often obsolete.
2. The Risk of Overblocking: Blanket IP-level blocking is an imprecise tool. Because many websites share the same IP address (via CDNs or shared hosting), blocking a single IP could render thousands of lawful websites inaccessible to users in Spain.

While the court did not explicitly rule that NordVPN's experts were correct and LaLiga's were wrong, the judge found that the reports from both sides deserved "the same consideration," concluding that NordVPN had not deliberately or without justification breached the order.

The Broader Impact on the Internet Ecosystem

This case is not happening in a vacuum. The tendency toward indiscriminate IP blocking has already caused significant collateral damage. Users in Spain have reported losing access to critical developer tools and infrastructure services, including GitHub, Docker, Vercel, and Cloudflare, when anti-piracy measures were enacted.

This has led to a growing push for "technological proportionality" within the Spanish government. On April 29, a congressional committee passed a non-binding motion urging the government to reform the Digital Services Law to limit the damage caused by overblocking.

Community Perspectives

Technical communities and users have expressed strong support for NordVPN's stance, viewing the fight against overblocking as a critical defense of the open web. Some users have highlighted the absurdity of the situation, noting that the volatility of web addresses makes the pursuit of blocking streams a futile exercise.

"It is beyond tiresome to fire up the laptop and wonder whether I'll need a VPN to access GitHub today," one user noted, reflecting the frustration of developers caught in the crossfire of copyright enforcement.

Conclusion: A Procedural Victory, Not a Final Word

It is important to note that this is a procedural ruling at a preliminary stage. The original February injunction remains in place, and the main proceedings are still ahead. While the fines have been set aside, NordVPN is not exempt from implementing blocks where LaLiga can prove piracy is occurring.

Whether the technical objections regarding overblocking will hold up during the final judgment on the merits remains to be seen, but the case serves as a stark reminder of the tension between copyright enforcement and the stability of the global internet infrastructure.