Italy forces Google to block pirate IPTV sites under strict law

Italy has taken significant legal action against Google to enforce its Piracy Shield law. On March 21, 2025, the Court of Milan ruled that Google must implement measures to block access to several IPTV pirate sites that were facilitating illegal streaming of Series A football matches. This ruling follows complaints made by the Italian national communication regulator, known as AGCOM, which highlighted Google's failure to obstruct specific pirate websites after they were identified as illegal by AGCOM. The move marks another step in Italy's ongoing anti-piracy campaign, which has targeted not only Google but also other tech firms like Cloudflare and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The actions have drawn criticism for being overly aggressive, with opponents labeling the Piracy Shield as draconian and messy, as it often leads to collateral damage like the unintended blocking of legitimate services. For instance, it was reported that Italian ISPs previously blocked the entire Google Drive domain due to misuse by a single user sharing copyrighted material. As the court pushes Google to comply, there is a growing concern regarding the implications of blocking content at the DNS level, which affects all users seeking to access the domains involved. AGCOM's leadership has welcomed the decision, seeing it as an important victory in the fight against piracy. However, such rulings provoke questions about internet governance and the balance between protecting intellectual property while ensuring unrestricted access to information on the web. The compliance of major tech firms like Google with local laws is under scrutiny, as their vast resources often allow them to operate independently of small-statement jurisdictional limitations. It remains to be seen how Google will respond to the ruling and what long-term consequences this legal battle might have for both the company and internet usage in Italy.