Standing up for the open Internet: why we appealed Italy’s "Piracy Shield" fine

Cloudflare is appealing a €14 million fine from Italy's communications regulator AGCOM over its refusal to register with 'Piracy Shield,' an Italian anti-piracy system. Piracy Shield allows private media companies to submit IP addresses and websites for mandatory blocking within 30 minutes, with no judicial oversight, transparency, or due process. The system has caused significant collateral damage, including blocking Google Drive, Ukrainian government sites, and thousands of legitimate businesses. Cloudflare argues AGCOM illegally calculated the fine using global rather than Italian revenue, inflating it nearly 100x beyond the legal cap. Cloudflare is also challenging the system's compatibility with the EU's Digital Services Act and pushing for disclosure of AGCOM's blocking records.