Quad9, a Swiss nonprofit providing free DNS security and privacy services, will stop offering its cyberprotection service to users located in France starting November 24. A French court ruled against the foundation in a case brought by be IN, a Qatari company with offices in France. The court ordered Quad9 to block DNS resolution for a set of domain names that be IN says are involved in copyright infringement of its sports broadcasts. The penalty was reduced from €580,000 to €1,000 per day, but Quad9 says the issue is one of principle rather than money.
Quad9 argues that recursive DNS resolution is a neutral, passive service and that it refuses to alter DNS responses in ways that conflict with user expectations. The organization says it has no connection to the domain names in question and that complying with the ruling is technically unfeasible, since it keeps no database linking users to jurisdictions and requires no sign-up or identity proof. It stresses that it does not condone piracy and that content piracy should be addressed at the source, where infringing content is hosted.
The foundation warns that legal pressure on DNS resolvers could harm the cybersecurity of hundreds of millions of innocent users worldwide. Quad9 says it offers global threat blocking against malicious activity but does not block content. Its core mission is to make privacy, security and integrity available to all internet users.
As a result, Quad9 has decided to withdraw its services from France. The organization says it regrets that French users will be left without an alternative that protects cybersecurity while complying with European privacy law.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing