Previously, Italian media regulator AGCOM fined Cloudflare 14.2 million euros for failing to comply with requirements to prevent pirated resources. The reason is that the company refused to apply filtering on the 1.1.1.1 public DNS server, arguing that this is impossible without affecting the performance of the service.
AGCOM disagreed with Cloudflare's position, noting that Cloudflare is not a neutral intermediary and that the company's services allow pirate sites to bypass standard blocks.
“Yesterday, a quasi-judicial body in Italy fined Cloudflare $17 million for failing to comply with its internet censorship plan. This plan, which even the EU called alarming, required us to completely block, within 30 minutes of notification, any website on the Internet that a shadowy cabal of the European media deemed contrary to its interests.
There is no judicial oversight. There is no due process. There is no appeal. Not transparent. We are required to not only remove the client, but also censor our 1.1.1.1 DNS server, which means there is a risk of blocking any website on the Internet.
And we are asked to censor content not only in Italy but all over the world. In other words, Italy asserts that the shadowy media in Europe has the right to dictate what is and is not allowed on the Internet,” Prince wrote, and in his post he also mentioned the views of businessman Elon Musk and US Vice President JD Vance on this issue.
“Mr. Prince, you are turning into the “Maduro drug lord” of the Internet world: hiding behind the flag of “freedom” to demand impunity. The fight against piracy is not about censorship, but a fight against crime. When your infrastructure speeds up, secures and monetizes the mass distribution of stolen content, it ceases to be a “philosophy” and becomes an intellectual property crime and – often – money laundering related these networks.
Elon Musk, these are not arbitrary decisions made by some “shadow committee”. There is a court order and due process. And yes: there are regulations in Spain, France, and other countries that Cloudflare systematically ignores.
JD Vance, (I want to be clear) is on the same page: it's about legality and compliance, not about window dressing. If Cloudflare wants to be respected, it must follow the rules and cooperate. If she wants to be a “safe haven,” she has to pay for it,” Tebas said.
