Quad9 to leave France after refusing court-ordered blocking of piracy domains
Swiss non-profit DNS resolver Quad9 said it will stop serving users in France on Nov. 24 after a Paris court ordered it to block domains accused by beIN of illegally streaming sports events. The court ruled on Oct. 21 that Quad9 would face a daily fine of 1,000 euros if it failed to comply. Quad9 said the dispute is about principle rather than the size of the penalty. According to the organization, the case stems from a May 13, 2026 ruling by the president of the Paris Judicial Court under Article L.333-10 of the French Sports Code, requiring Quad9 to block six domains and related subdomains within three days. The order applies to mainland France and most overseas territories, with New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna excluded. Quad9 said it cannot reliably identify which users are in France because it does not maintain a user database. It also rejected the alternative of adding the six domains to its global malicious-domain blocklist, saying that would extend a French ruling worldwide for the commercial interests of a private foreign company. The group added that around 20 similar cases are still pending in France.
