Twitch IPs Blocked in Spain Over the Weekend as LaLiga Expands Anti-Piracy Measures

• Twitch IP addresses were among dozens blocked on Saturday as part of LaLiga’s anti-piracy campaign.
• The legality and accountability of these blanket blocking strategies are being scrutinized. 
• Critics argue that current methods resemble unaccountable internet censorship, with no transparency requirements in place.

LaLiga's escalating efforts to combat piracy have ignited significant controversy as hundreds of websites and platforms, including Twitch, face blocking by Spanish ISPs. 

This aggressive approach, driven by court orders and supported by telecom giant Telefónica, aims to crack down on illegal live sports streaming. However, it is creating substantial collateral damage to legitimate online businesses and services.

Since February, Spain has witnessed unprecedented measures to curb piracy, with IP addresses linked to services like Cloudflare, Vercel, GitHub, and other major infrastructure providers being blocked. 

The stated goal is to prevent access to pirated streams of LaLiga matches, yet countless innocent businesses and users who rely on these services for daily operations have also been affected.

An incident this past Saturday highlighted the severity of the situation, as Twitch IP addresses were blocked during a Real Madrid match. Platforms like hayahora.futbol, which provide transparency on such events, documented extensive disruptions targeting U.S.-based IP infrastructures. 

Companies like Tiny Bird Co. have reported direct operational interruptions caused by the indiscriminate nature of these actions. 

Vercel, a key player in infrastructure services, had pledged to cooperate with LaLiga to prevent further disruptions, but some blocks, such as for IPs 76.76.21.142 and 66.33.60.129, remain active, indicating persistent issues.

Cloudflare also shouldered significant disruption, further underlining the widespread harm to legitimate services. Rather than curtailing piracy seamlessly, these measures are carving deep fault lines in the internet ecosystem.