Canal+, a major French media company, attempted to impose heavy financial penalties on Cloudflare, a global internet infrastructure provider, for not fully blocking access to pirate websites. However, the Paris judicial court recently rejected this request, clarifying that while Cloudflare must take steps to block such sites, it is not responsible for ensuring they remain permanently inaccessible. This decision marks a setback for Canal+ after previous legal victories against other intermediaries involved in internet traffic management. The legal dispute stems from two court orders issued on April 17, 2026, which required Cloudflare to block access to websites illegally broadcasting MotoGP and Formula 1 content. Canal+ had argued that many of these sites remained accessible despite Cloudflare’s efforts, often by switching to alternative services or using mirrored addresses. The media company had sought fines of 50,000 euros per day for each site that remained accessible, potentially reaching up to 1.55 million euros daily, depending on the number of affected sites. Canal+ had claimed that Cloudflare had a "duty of result," meaning it should guarantee the complete inaccessibility of pirate sites. However, the court ruled in favor of a "duty of means," meaning Cloudflare only needs to take reasonable steps to block the sites, not ensure they are never accessed. According to figures provided by Canal+, Cloudflare had successfully blocked 72.6% of the domain names covered by the court’s orders, which the court considered sufficient evidence of its efforts to combat online piracy. The court’s ruling does not absolve Cloudflare of its blocking responsibilities but emphasizes that the company is not liable for the adaptability of pirate site infrastructures. In recent years, France has strengthened its legal framework against online piracy, particularly in sports content, through the Sports Code. This law allows regulatory bodies like Arcom to impose fines of up to 75,000 euros or 1% of a company’s global annual turnover for failing to implement blocking measures. However, the court’s decision highlights that while Canal+ has strong tools to combat illegal broadcasts, it cannot hold intermediaries like Cloudflare fully responsible for all methods pirate services use to circumvent blocks.