A Madrid investigating court has summoned the chief executive of Cloudflare, Matthew Prince, to appear on April 7th as part of criminal proceedings linked to an alleged failure to cooperate in the fight against football piracy.

Investigating Court Number 50 of Madrid has admitted a joint complaint lodged by LaLiga and Movistar Plus+, in which the US technology company is accused of offences against intellectual property. The claimants argue that Cloudflare ignored more than one hundred formal requests to shut down websites broadcasting unauthorised football content while relying on the firm’s infrastructure services.

The alleged economic damage has been estimated at €859 million. According to the complaint, a significant share of illegal football streams accessed in Spain are routed through Cloudflare’s technology. The claimants contend that as much as 38 per cent of illicit content consumed domestically is supported by services provided by the California-based group.

The case unfolds against the backdrop of enhanced legal powers granted to LaLiga and telecommunications operators. In December 2024, a Barcelona court authorised dynamic blocking measures against websites streaming protected content without permission. These injunctions allow rights holders and internet service providers to disable access to infringing domains in real time.

However, the use of Cloudflare’s hosting and security services has complicated enforcement. Many websites share IP addresses under the company’s content delivery network, meaning that blocking action against a single infringing site can inadvertently affect legitimate businesses hosted on the same infrastructure. As a result, a number of lawful online services have reportedly been caught up in weekend match-time blackouts.

In addition to the alleged intellectual property offence, the complaint also cites accusations of threats and obstruction of justice against the executive — a development that marks a further escalation in LaLiga’s long-running anti-piracy campaign.

Recently, rights holders secured another legal victory when a court in Córdoba ordered several VPN providers to comply with blocking measures designed to curb unauthorised streams.

The dispute has crystallised a broader clash between major technology firms, which argue they are defending the principles of an open internet, and sports rights holders and broadcasters seeking stronger enforcement tools to protect valuable media rights.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Business, Content, OTT, OTT, Pay TV, Piracy, Policy, Regulation, Rights

Tags: CloudFlare, laliga, Movistar Plus