El Xocas vs LaLiga: when digital censorship hits your wallet
El Xocas denounces LaLiga's IP blocks in Spain. We look at the real impact on the network and the strange political alliance this measure has created.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
El Xocas vs El futbol español: when digital censorship hits your wallet
The streamer El Xocas has shone a light on a reality many ignore: the IP blocks ordered by El futbol español, Spain's football league, are hitting legitimate businesses and users with no connection to football. As the debate heats up, a political paradox emerges around a measure backed by the PSOE (Spain's centre-left party) and rejected by Vox, leaving internet users caught in the crossfire between censorship and corporate profits.
Censorship dressed up as the fight against piracy
The controversy stems from an initiative approved on 29 April in the Committee on Economy, Trade and Digital Transformation. The proposal, which seeks to curb indiscriminate IP blocking, has produced an unusual split: the PSOE, along with ERC, Sumar, EH Bildu, PNV and Compromís, voted in favour, while the PP and Vox opposed it. For many forum users, the problem is not just football but the impunity with which a private organisation can tamper with network infrastructure, forcing small businesses to suffer service outages or rely on VPNs to get back to normal browsing.
Does the block really affect your everyday browsing?
The fair question of whether this is a real problem or an isolated complaint is answered by the forum users' own testimony. Several users confirm that slowed downloads or websites that fail to load are fixed instantly by switching on a VPN, showing that El futbol español's blocking is anything but surgical. The main criticism targets an industry's desperation to squeeze its business model, sacrificing net neutrality with the blessing of a government that, according to critics, should have reined in these abuses long ago.
The open question is how far we are willing to tolerate a private entity managing internet access in Spain. While some see a victory against censorship, others wonder whether the legislative change is just political smoke over a situation that has already caused collateral damage across the network.
Related discussions in the forum
The streamer El Xocas has shone a light on a reality many ignore: the IP blocks ordered by El futbol español, Spain's football league, are hitting legitimate businesses and users with no connection to football. As the debate heats up, a political paradox emerges around a measure backed by the PSOE (Spain's centre-left party) and rejected by Vox, leaving internet users caught in the crossfire between censorship and corporate profits.
Censorship dressed up as the fight against piracy
The controversy stems from an initiative approved on 29 April in the Committee on Economy, Trade and Digital Transformation. The proposal, which seeks to curb indiscriminate IP blocking, has produced an unusual split: the PSOE, along with ERC, Sumar, EH Bildu, PNV and Compromís, voted in favour, while the PP and Vox opposed it. For many forum users, the problem is not just football but the impunity with which a private organisation can tamper with network infrastructure, forcing small businesses to suffer service outages or rely on VPNs to get back to normal browsing.
Does the block really affect your everyday browsing?
The fair question of whether this is a real problem or an isolated complaint is answered by the forum users' own testimony. Several users confirm that slowed downloads or websites that fail to load are fixed instantly by switching on a VPN, showing that El futbol español's blocking is anything but surgical. The main criticism targets an industry's desperation to squeeze its business model, sacrificing net neutrality with the blessing of a government that, according to critics, should have reined in these abuses long ago.
The open question is how far we are willing to tolerate a private entity managing internet access in Spain. While some see a victory against censorship, others wonder whether the legislative change is just political smoke over a situation that has already caused collateral damage across the network.
Related discussions in the forum
- Zelenski asks for more dough, now 250,000 million euros · 53 replies
- BULLFIGHTING CORNER II · 7777 replies
- Boom!! Former workers of the Red channel and Podemos expose how "the rat" exploited them, refused to pay overtime and other shady dealings · 28 replies
- More and more twenty-somethings are traditionalist/conservative, and that is lowering the birth rate. · 24 replies
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (23 replies).
More summaries
-
Internet censored by La Liga's blocking spree
La Liga's dynamic blocks are hitting legitimate internet services in Spain. We look at the digital censorship and its real impact on the network.
-
Half of Spain's renters are now foreigners, forum claims
A forum post claims 5 million foreigners rent in Spain, while tourism accounts for only 10% of the market, sparking debate on housing shortages.
-
UK woman jailed for 4.5 years over 10 false rape claims
Stacey Sharples has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for 10 false rape allegations in the UK. The sentence has sparked controversy for being deemed too lenient.
-
Some Moroccan families send their children to youth centers to 'run the race'
The Moroccan community spokesman in Bilbao, Spain, blames poverty for crime, but the debate reveals a very different view: family reunification and abuse of the welfare system.
-
Femi-Stalinism: the Nomenklatura business that trades your safety for votes and money
Femi-Stalinism: the bureaucratic racket that sacrifices your safety for votes and money. How the Nomenklatura works.
-
Young man survives after screwdriver embedded in his skull
A young man from the Landes region of France has miraculously survived with a screwdriver embedded in his skull. The case echoes other penetrating trauma incidents and reopens the debate.