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Quad9 says it will stop offering its free cybersecurity-focused DNS service to users in France on Nov. 24, 2026, after a French court ruling requires it to block certain domain names. The Swiss nonprofit says it cannot reliably identify French users without collecting user data and will not apply the requested blocks globally; the court decision and company account are described in Quad9’s Oct. 22 statement.
Quad9 says it will stop offering its free DNS and cybersecurity service to people in France on November 24, 2026, after a French court ruling requires it to block resolution of domains that beIN says are involved in copyright infringement. The Swiss nonprofit says it cannot implement the order for French users without identifying and tracking users by location, which it says conflicts with its privacy commitments.
In a statement dated October 22, Quad9 said the court had ruled against it the previous day in a case brought by beIN, a Qatari company with offices in France. According to Quad9, the ruling requires it to block recursive DNS resolution for a set of domain names in France. The company says beIN argues that the sites are participating in infringement of its audiovisual rights to sports broadcasts. The source material does not include the court’s written decision or beIN’s response.
Quad9 said the court lowered the financial penalty from €580,000 to €1,000 per day. The organization’s statement also describes the daily fine as applying until blocking is completed, with a stated possible total of €24,000 through November 14, not including legal costs. The dates and penalty period in the post do not fully explain how that figure relates to its announced November 24 service withdrawal; the court order itself was not provided for comparison.
The nonprofit said it has no user sign-up or identity checks and does not keep a list linking users to jurisdictions. It argues that it cannot reliably determine which DNS requests come from people in France without changing how it handles user information. Quad9 says it will withdraw its service in France rather than apply the requested restrictions worldwide, and says the ruling conflicts with its approach to DNS as a neutral service.
French users face a DNS service loss
If Quad9 follows through, people in France who use its resolver will need to select another DNS provider or use another available service before the withdrawal date. Quad9 provides a free resolver with optional blocking of domains it identifies as threats such as malware and phishing. The company’s announcement does not say that every French user relies on those protections, but the planned exit removes one available option.
The dispute also concerns how far a court can require an intermediary to restrict access to domains over a copyright claim. Quad9 says it is not connected to the sites or their operators and contends that DNS resolvers are not the appropriate parties to address allegedly infringing material. Those are the company’s characterizations; the underlying ruling and the reasoning of the court are not included in the supplied material.
The decision has implications beyond the immediate service change if similar orders are pursued. Quad9 says it has 20 other pending cases that could bring additional penalties, though it provides no details about their parties, status or expected outcomes. Its departure signals that the organization views compliance costs and technical requirements as significant enough to stop serving a country rather than implement a location-specific block.
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The dispute over DNS blocking
DNS, or the Domain Name System, translates domain names into the numerical addresses computers use to connect to online services. A recursive resolver receives a user’s request and returns a DNS response. Quad9’s account says the French order requires it to prevent such responses for certain domains when requests come from users in France. The company says it does not host the websites and has no relationship with their operators.
Quad9 describes itself as a Swiss public-benefit nonprofit that offers DNS services without charge or mandatory registration. It says users can choose a protective resolver that blocks domains associated with malicious activity, or a nonprotective service that does not apply those security blocks. Quad9 says putting the disputed names into its global threat-blocking list would affect users worldwide, not just those in France, and it rejects that approach.
The organization frames its objection as both technical and principled: it says it lacks a reliable way to identify French users while preserving anonymous access, and says global blocking would extend the effect of a French court decision beyond France. These points come from Quad9’s own account. The source material does not establish whether the court considered alternative technical methods or how it assessed the resolver’s role.
“For us, recursive DNS resolution is a neutral and passive service.”
— Quad9
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The supplied source is Quad9’s account, not the court ruling. It does not identify the court, provide the decision’s text, list the affected domain names or set out the legal reasoning. BeIN’s response and its description of the dispute are also not included, so the company’s allegations about infringement cannot be independently evaluated from this material.
There is also a timing point that needs clarification. Quad9 says the ruling imposes a daily penalty until blocking concludes on November 14, while announcing that its French service will end on November 24. The statement does not explain whether the November 14 date refers to a separate deadline, a period in the court order or another milestone. It also does not explain what service changes users will encounter between those dates.
Quad9’s claims that geographic targeting is technically unfeasible and that complying would require user identification are its stated position; the material does not include an independent technical assessment or the court’s view. The status and particulars of the 20 other cases mentioned by Quad9 are likewise unspecified.
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Service withdrawal set for November 24
Quad9 says it plans to withdraw its services from France on Tuesday, November 24, 2026. The company has not provided operational instructions in the source material for affected users, named replacement resolvers or described whether existing configurations will stop working automatically. Users who rely on Quad9 will need to check the organization’s updates and decide whether to change their DNS settings before the announced date.
Further clarity may come from publication of the court’s decision, responses from beIN and Quad9, or details on the enforcement timetable. Until those materials are available, the scope of the order, the exact implementation deadline and any possibility of appeal or modification remain unconfirmed by the supplied source.
Key Questions
When does Quad9 plan to stop serving users in France?
Quad9 says it will withdraw its services from France on November 24, 2026. The announcement does not describe exactly how access will change on that date.
Why is Quad9 leaving France?
Quad9 says a French court ruling requires it to block DNS resolution for domains that beIN alleges are involved in copyright infringement. The nonprofit says it cannot reliably limit the blocking to French users without collecting or linking user location data.
What penalty did the court impose, according to Quad9?
Quad9 says the court reduced the financial penalty from €580,000 to €1,000 per day. Its statement refers to a possible €24,000 total through November 14, but does not fully explain how that deadline relates to the planned November 24 withdrawal.
Does Quad9 say it supports piracy?
No. Quad9 says, “We do not condone content piracy.” Its stated objection is to using a DNS resolver to block domains, rather than addressing allegedly infringing content at its source.
Will Quad9 block the domains for users worldwide instead?
Quad9 says it will not put the disputed domains into its global blocking list because that would apply the restriction beyond France. The company has announced withdrawal from France rather than global blocking.
Source: hn
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