Cloudflare CEO threatens to pull servers from Italy after AGCOM's €14M fine

• Italy’s telecom watchdog fined Cloudflare €14M for not blocking pirate sites
• The fine was issued under the country's Piracy Shield framework
• Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince threatens to pull servers from Italy

Cloudflare has launched a blistering attack on Italian authorities after being hit with a massive fine, threatening to strip the country of its servers and withdraw support for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The web infrastructure company confirmed it has received a fine, approximately €14 million ($17 million), from AGCOM, Italy’s communications watchdog. The penalty was issued because Cloudflare refused to register with Italy’s controversial Piracy Shield framework to block access to copyright-infringing domains via its 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince did not mince words in his response. Taking to X, Prince blasted the decision as an "unjust" overreach that aligns more ...