Quad9, a Swiss non-profit DNS resolver, said it will stop providing service to users in France starting Nov. 24 after a Paris court ordered it to block domains accused by beIN of illegally streaming sports events. If it does not comply, the organization faces a fine of 1,000 euros per day under an Oct. 21 ruling.
In a blog post published on Oct. 22, Quad9 said the issue is not the amount of the fine but the principle behind the order. The organization describes itself as a Switzerland-based public-interest foundation that offers free DNS resolution, requires no registration, and focuses on privacy and blocking malicious websites.
Paris court ordered blocking of six domains
According to the judgment published by Quad9, the case traces back to a May 13, 2026 decision by the president of the Paris Judicial Court. Citing Article L.333-10 of the French Sports Code, the court ordered Quad9 to block six domains and related subdomains within three days.
The scope covers mainland France and most overseas territories, excluding New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna.
DNS works by translating domain names into IP addresses used for internet connections. Under the court order, French users querying those domains through Quad9 would not receive the correct IP address, effectively denying resolution.
Penalty reduced to 1,000 euros per day
Quad9 said beIN had originally asked for a penalty of 10,000 euros per domain per day, covering six domains. The Oct. 21 ruling did not adopt that request. Instead, it set a fine of 1,000 euros per day from the date of judgment until the end of the season on Nov. 14 if Quad9 refused to block the domains.
Quad9 said the exposure had been reduced from 580,000 euros to 1,000 euros per day. It estimated that refusing to block the domains would result in roughly 24,000 euros in cumulative fines, excluding legal fees.
Quad9 says neither blocking option works
Quad9 said it does not maintain a user database and cannot determine which users are located in France. It pointed to a Sony Music case in Germany between 2021 and 2023, where it tried using IP geolocation to apply country-based blocking.
In that case, Sony accessed a blocked site from Germany through a VPN, and the court found that Quad9 had not effectively enforced the block, leading to fines. Quad9 said it ultimately won that case, but only after several years and six-figure costs.
The other option would be to add the six domains to its global malicious-domain blocklist. That would prevent all users of 9.9.9.9 from resolving them. Quad9 said such a move would apply a French court ruling worldwide for the commercial interests of a private foreign company, which it would not accept.
Quad9 also said it does not support piracy, but argued that enforcement should target the source hosting the infringing content rather than forcing a DNS resolver to carry out broad blocking on a global basis.
About 20 similar cases are still pending in France
Quad9 said there are about 20 similar lawsuits still pending in France. French media outlet Next previously reported that Canal+ had obtained Paris court orders requiring DNS services from Google, Cloudflare, and Cisco to block pirate sports websites.
In this case, Quad9 said it chose to leave France rather than implement the court-ordered blocking.
