Quad9, a Swiss public-benefit nonprofit that provides free DNS resolution services, announced it will withdraw its service from France effective November 24 in response to an unfavorable French court ruling, according to a statement on its website.
The court sided with beIN, a Qatari company, in requiring Quad9 to block recursive DNS resolution for domain names the company claims are involved in copyright infringement of its sports broadcast content. While the court reduced the financial penalty from €580,000 to €1,000 per day, Quad9 stated the decision presents a matter of principle rather than merely financial.
Quad9 argues that complying with the ruling is both technically infeasible and contradictory to its core mission of protecting user privacy and internet integrity. The organization does not maintain user databases or require registration, making it impossible to identify which users are located in France and apply jurisdiction-specific blocking. According to Quad9’s statement, implementing such blocking would require users to identify themselves before accessing DNS services—directly opposing the organization’s privacy commitments.
The nonprofit considered two compliance options but rejected both. Globally blocking the specified domains would extend French legal decisions to all internet users worldwide, setting a precedent allowing any nation to impose its laws on others through DNS blocking. Quad9 also rejected geographic IP (geoIP) blocking after a previous experience in Germany, where a court found the method technically insufficient when users employed VPNs to circumvent the blocks.
Quad9 emphasized that content piracy should be addressed at the source—where infringing content is published—rather than through DNS resolvers, which it describes as neutral, passive services. The organization stated that applying legal pressure to DNS providers will have “vast unintended consequences” harming cybersecurity for hundreds of millions of internet users.
The decision follows years of similar legal cases. Quad9 previously faced proceedings brought by Sony Music Entertainment in Germany between 2021 and 2023, which the organization eventually won but only after incurring six-figure legal costs and years of litigation. Quad9 noted it faces 20 additional pending cases with similar dynamics, making the accumulation of potential penalties unsustainable.
Key facts
- Quad9 will cease service in France starting November 24 following a French court order
- The court ruled Quad9 must block domains involved in copyright infringement claimed by beIN
- The financial penalty was reduced from €580,000 to €1,000 per day
- Quad9 states it cannot comply while maintaining user privacy because it does not track user locations or require registration
- The organization rejected both global domain blocking and geographic IP blocking as compliance methods
- Quad9 currently faces 20 additional pending cases with similar legal pressures