Cloudflare Funding Withdrawal Threatens Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

Cloudflare CEO Threatens Withdrawal of Services Over Italian Fine

Cloudflare, a US-based internet company, has issued a statement regarding a fine imposed by Italy’s independent communications watchdog, Agcom. The fine, totaling 14 million euros ($16m), was handed down for the company’s failure to comply with anti-piracy laws.

According to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, the company had launched legal challenges against Agcom’s “Piracy Shield” system, which allows rightsholders of livestreamed events to report pirated content. However, Prince stated that he believes the system is flawed due to its lack of judicial oversight, appeal process, and transparency.

Cloudflare has already provided pro bono cyber-security services for the upcoming Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. In light of the fine, Prince announced that his company may discontinue these services or remove all servers from Italian cities. He also warned that Cloudflare could scrap plans to invest in Italy and potentially withdraw its free cybersecurity services for Italian users.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is set to host the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games on February 6-22, with Cloudflare providing security services for the event. Prince stated that he would be discussing the issue with US officials and IOC representatives in an effort to resolve the matter.

Agcom reported that since its adoption in February 2024, Piracy Shield has led to the disabling of at least 65,000 fully-qualified domain names (FQDN) and approximately 14,000 IP addresses.

Source: Al Jazeera