Overview
- Investigating Court No. 50 in Madrid has summoned Cloudflare Inc. and CEO Matthew Prince to testify as investigated persons on April 7.
- The filing accuses them of crimes against intellectual property, threats or coercion, and obstruction of justice.
- Plaintiffs say Cloudflare impeded enforcement of a December 18, 2024 Barcelona ruling that authorized dynamic blocking of IP addresses used for illegal streams.
- LaLiga and Movistar claim roughly 38% of illicit services use Cloudflare’s infrastructure and estimate annual losses at €859 million, with 1,000–1,500 illegal streams per match, according to the complaint.
- The querella cites Prince’s public remarks questioning foreign court orders, including after a roughly $17 million Italian sanction, as evidence of resistance to enforcement.