LaLiga demands major VPNs be placed on the EU’s piracy watch list

Spanish football league LaLiga has formally requested that the European Commission include four major VPN providers—NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and Proton VPN—on the EU’s Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List. The league argues that these companies are no longer neutral intermediaries because their affiliate marketing programs actively encourage users to bypass geo-blocking restrictions to access unlicensed football broadcasts. While LaLiga emphasizes that it does not oppose VPN technology itself, it contends that the commercial promotion of circumvention tools undermines its territorial broadcast licensing agreements. This move follows a series of legal conflicts between the league and tech providers, including previous attempts to force VPNs to block specific streams. The VPN companies have historically defended their neutrality, noting the technical impossibility of enforcing constant, granular blocks on rapidly changing IP addresses. The European Commission will now evaluate whether to include these providers in the upcoming 2027 watch list.