DNS resolver Quad9 has welcomed a ruling in the German courts in its ongoing legal battle with Sony Music which, it says, rules in its favour "clearly and unequivocally". However, the win in the German courts comes alongside new demands from the major record companies in Italy which could result in another legal battle.
Sony was initially successful in its case against Quad9, in which it sought to force the DNS resolver to block access to a piracy site. However, last week an appeals court concluded that Quad9 benefits from "liability privileges as a mere conduit" under German law, meaning it is not obliged to block that site.
The ruling follows another in the German courts in a dispute between Universal Music and internet company Cloudflare - which said that the latter's DNS resolver was likewise not obliged to block access to websites on copyright grounds.
Web-blocking - where a court orders an internet service provider to block access to an infringing website - is an anti-piracy tactic of choice for the music industry. In more recent years record companies have been seeking web-blocking orders against a wider range of internet companies, including third party DNS resolvers.
Despite the set backs for the music industry in Germany, in Italy the major record companies have had success in court when seeking to force Cloudflare's resolver to block some websites. And on the back of that, the majors in Italy are now making similar demands of Quad9.
In a blog post, it admits that it isn't in a position to mount a legal challenge to those demands just yet. As a not-for-profit, it writes, "Quad9 can only have a few legal fronts open at once". Therefore it has complied with the web-blocking requests of the Italian majors for now until it is in a position to, in its words, "fight this demand for censorship".