Google Ordered To Poison DNS Servers & Block Pirate Sites In Italy

Italy is cracking down on piracy, and Google is in its crosshairs.

The Court of Milan recently ordered Google to "poison" its public DNS servers to block access to some pirate websites that stream Series A football matches illegally.

AGCOM, Italy's communication regulator, had filed a complaint against Google for not blocking some pirate sites and the ruling was the Court’s response to the complaint.

AGCOM Commissioner, Massimiliano Capitanio celebrated the ruling, affirming the value of the Italian Piracy Shield.

However, critics have argued that Italy's Piracy Shield law is too broad and leads to unnecessary collateral damage. For example, last year, Italian ISPs briefly blocked the entire Google Drive domain because someone shared copyrighted material on the platform.

What Is DNS Poisoning?

DNS poisoning, also called spoofing, occurs when a DNS record is altered, preventing people trying to visit a website by typing the domain name from being routed to the correct IP address.

What Is The Privacy Shield?

In February 2024, Italy launched its Piracy Shield tool to help combat and prevent the illegal streaming of live events, especially football matches. This initiative was based on the new anti-piracy law that was passed in July 2023.

Italy's Piracy Shield Law basically requires ISPs to block access to illegal or pirate websites violating copyright laws by streaming events online illegally.

Ars Technica, the popular technology news and information site reports that, Google could actually face some heavy fines, if it refuses to comply with the court's order. Cloudflare had a piracy issue in January and was threatened with up to 10,000 Euros per day in fines by the same court, if it refuses to comply.

How will Google respond? The tech world awaits!