Belgium’s Department for Combating Online Infringement is compelling domain registrars to disclose the identities and financial records of anonymous operators behind suspected sports piracy websites via court orders.

Key Points

• The Brussels Business Court issued five decisions requiring domain registrars and a registry to surrender detailed user data to authorities.
• Targeted intermediaries include EU-based companies Hosting Concepts, Hostinger, and Key Systems.
• Requested data includes names, postal addresses, IBANs, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and 12 months of connection logs.
• A strict gag order prevents registrars from notifying customers that their personal information and account data are being disclosed to rightsholders.
• The enforcement relies on Article 10 of the Digital Services Act, though the legal reach of these Belgian orders remains untested across borders.

Why it Matters

These measures represent a significant shift from simple site blocking to aggressive identification of anonymous operators, potentially setting a precedent for cross-border digital enforcement. By bypassing user notification requirements, the court is prioritizing the protection of the sports economy over standard transparency protocols.