Laliga's ip crackdown: blocking everything but the football

Spain's LaLiga is facing a growing backlash over its aggressive strategy to combat online piracy, a strategy that's increasingly ensnaring legitimate websites and services. What began as an effort to target illegal IPTV streams has morphed into a broad-spectrum internet blockade, raising serious questions about net neutrality and the scope of LaLiga's power.

The broad sweep of the bans

Driven by President Javier Tebas's zero-tolerance approach, LaLiga has been pressuring Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Orange, Digi, and Movistar to swiftly shut down any IP addresses suspected of piracy. The problem? These takedowns have frequently included legitimate platforms – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the Real Academia Española (RAE), Twitch, and even crucial Spanish institutional websites. The justification, according to Tebas, is a blanket dismissal of complaints as “smoke and mirrors” propagated by disgruntled tech enthusiasts, a characterization many find dismissive and inaccurate.

But the impact is far from trivial. Codely, a platform providing educational resources and Entertainment for software developers, found itself abruptly blocked after Movistar failed to lift restrictions during a league matchday. They pay for courses—courses in AI and software development—and yet their service was caught in LaLiga's net.

“Since February 2025, they’ve been blocking Cloudflare, the intermediary service we use,” Codely stated in a public announcement. “People and companies pay for courses on our platform, and it has absolutely nothing to do with football piracy.” The situation highlights a broader concern: that LaLiga is prioritizing its own interests over the rights of legitimate users and businesses.

Beyond the 'four tech geeks'

Tebas dismisses the affected parties as merely “four tech geeks,” a statement that has further fueled criticism. However, the list extends far beyond a handful of niche developers. Services like Steam (boasting over 130 million monthly active users) and MadridSalud, a vital public health portal, have also been caught in the crossfire. Codely rightly points out, “If you consider yourselves a service provider, you deserve to provide the service for which people pay, regardless of whether you’re one of four ‘tech geeks.’”

The situation is escalating. LaLiga is pursuing what many see as an overly aggressive legal strategy, filing 17 criminal complaints against Google, alleging intellectual property theft and money laundering. This tactic, combined with the blanket IP blocks, has drawn fire from organizations concerned about the erosion of net neutrality. A recent incident in March 2024 saw Movistar inadvertently leaving blocks active, further disrupting Codely Pro’s service.

While LaLiga claims to be addressing piracy through established channels like Cloudflare’s abuse reporting system, critics argue that the current approach is a blunt instrument. As Codely succinctly puts it, “If LaLiga were a serious entity that respected internet protocols, this wouldn’t be happening.”

The Spanish government has so far remained conspicuously silent, with parliamentary debates on the issue yielding no clear resolution. For now, users facing these blocks are left with the only recourse: VPNs. Whether this aggressive tactic will ultimately prove sustainable, or if legal challenges and mounting public pressure will force LaLiga to reconsider, remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the pursuit of football piracy is costing more than just stolen streams.