Belgian authorities have escalated efforts to combat digital piracy by issuing orders to European domain registrars requiring them to disclose financial records, cryptocurrency wallet details, and technical logs associated with suspected pirate site operators.
The directives were issued by Belgium's Department for Combating Online Infringement under orders from the French-speaking Business Court of Brussels. Unlike standard enforcement measures that focus on domain-level website blocking, the new orders require registrars and a registry to provide comprehensive identification data of site operators.
Requested information includes full names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, financial records such as complete IBAN details and credit card information, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and transaction hashes. Registrars must also provide up to 12 months of connection logs, device details, and IP addresses associated with targeted user accounts.
While most intermediary names were redacted in released documents, three EU-based registrars were identified: Hosting Concepts, Hostinger, and Key Systems. Court reasoning citing the need to protect the sports economy suggests the investigation centers on illegal sports streaming networks.
Gag Orders and Legal Questions
Targeted registrars are subject to strict gag orders prohibiting them from notifying account holders, third parties, or the public regarding the proceedings. Officials cited provisions within the European Union's Digital Services Act that allow exceptions to standard user notification requirements when criminal investigations are underway.
Authorities said the scope of legal enforcement extends to any service provider accessible within Belgian territory, though legal experts note that cross-border enforcement against entities based outside Belgium remains untested under the framework. Questions remain regarding whether such cross-border demands will survive scrutiny under the EU Digital Services Act.
