Spanish authorities have ordered internet providers to block Archive.today and six of its mirror domains under the country’s intellectual property enforcement system.
Users attempting to access the affected addresses are instead redirected to a government warning page describing the websites as illegal.
The blocking order was issued by the Second Section of Spain’s Intellectual Property Commission (S2CPI), a national body attached to the Ministry of Culture responsible for protecting intellectual-property rights against infringements involving online services.
Seven Archive.today domains appear on the authorities’ published list of blocked websites:
- archive.fo
- archive.is
- archive.li
- archive.md
- archive.ph
- archive.today
- archive.vn
Archive.today is a web-archiving service that creates snapshots of webpages and makes them accessible through permanent links even when the original page is later modified or removed. The service operates through multiple domains, several of which can lead users to the same underlying archival platform.
Spanish users attempting to visit the blocked domains may now encounter a government page headed, in capital letters, “YOU ARE TRYING TO ACCESS AN ILLEGAL WEBSITE.”
The notice states that access has been blocked following a resolution of the Second Section of the Intellectual Property Commission because the site allegedly facilitates illegal access to material protected by intellectual-property rights.
It further warns visitors that attempting to access the content contributes to “illegal and criminal activity” and could put their security, data, and devices at risk.
Spain’s Intellectual Property Commission operates under the country’s consolidated Intellectual Property Law, including Articles 193 and 195, while the organization and operation of its Second Section are further governed by Royal Decree 1130/2023.
According to the Commission’s description of its powers, the Second Section acts to safeguard intellectual-property rights where information-society services directly or indirectly operate for profit, or where their activities have caused or could cause financial harm to rights holders.
The Commission says the section applies only after a complaint from an interested party and requires it to follow principles including legality, objectivity, proportionality, and adversarial procedure.
The blocking demonstrates how Spain’s copyright enforcement framework can extend beyond individual pieces of allegedly infringing content to access restrictions affecting an entire web service and multiple alternative domains used to reach it.
That broader use of network-level enforcement has already drawn scrutiny in Spain. Separate court-authorized anti-piracy blocks targeting unauthorized LaLiga streams have disrupted access to hundreds of thousands of legitimate websites, according to OONI, while also prompting legal challenges from infrastructure and VPN providers over the proportionality and technical impact of such measures.
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