Government agencies in five Latin American countries came together this week for a big old web-blocking party, working together to force internet service providers in Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador to block more than 300 domains associated with streaming ripping and malware distribution.
The project, called Operation LUMEN, was backed by global record industry trade group the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, which has been working quite prolifically of late with relevant government and law enforcement agencies in the region in a bid to crack down on both music piracy and streaming fraud.
IFPI boss Victoria Oakley says, “Operation LUMEN shows what can be achieved when authorities work together across borders to tackle threats like piracy. We commend the leadership and cooperation of the authorities participating - this initiative will help protect artists and fans while supporting a healthier digital marketplace for music”.
Although the music industry talks a lot less about piracy these days, it’s still a significant concern, with lots of anti-piracy work always going on in the background.
For some years now, stream ripping sites - which allow people to download permanent copies of temporary streams - have been the industry’s top piracy gripe, while web-blocking - forcing ISPs to block access to piracy services - is the industry’s favourite anti-piracy tactic.
According to a statement from IFPI, the domains targeted by Operation LUMEN together attracted an average of 15 million visits per month in the last year, reaching more than 5.4 million unique visitors during the same period.
The trade body adds that “44 of the 317 targeted sites were associated with malware distribution or other malicious activities, affecting more than 4.7 million users, and highlighting the close link between copyright infringement and broader online security threats”.
Operation LUMEN was coordinated by Peru’s INDECOPI, a government agency with responsibility for enforcing competition and intellectual property law. It then worked with Paraguay’s DINAPI, Brazil’s CyberGaeco and ANCINE, the Dominican Republic’s ONDA and Ecuador’s SENADI.
Commenting on the web-blocking push, INDECOPI Executive President Milagros Maraví says “increasingly sophisticated systems that exploit technology to profit unfairly from the creative efforts of others” are affecting “thousands of creators and companies” and the wider “cultural industries” throughout the region.
The collaboration of government agencies across Latin America, she adds, “reflects the commitment of various countries in the region to promote innovative and coordinated actions to protect creativity”.
Web-blocking on copyright grounds has its critics, who usually argue that it’s not especially effective as an anti-piracy tactic because it’s relatively easy for web-savvy people to circumvent the blocks and continue to access targeted piracy services.
Web-blocking is not currently an option under US copyright law but there are proposals in Washington to change that - prompting the anti-web-blocking brigade to ramp up their criticism of the music industry’s favourite anti-piracy approach.
However, the music industry insists that web-blocking is a decent anti-piracy tool. In its statement welcoming Operation LUMEN, the IFPI cited a study it undertook last year which, it says, “demonstrated that regular and well-targeted blocking actions can be an effective tool in reducing traffic to illegal sites and helping to steer users towards licensed music services”.
That study, it goes on, “found that consistent blocking of infringing sites caused a 15% to 50% increase in visits to licensed music services such as Spotify and Amazon Music, and a 3% to 8% increase in visits to paid new account or upgrade pages”.
IFPI boss Oakley continues, “IFPI’s study confirmed that website blocking can be an effective and proportionate tool in disrupting access to illegal services, including by helping to drive users towards licensed services and paid subscription pages, and this coordinated action will help disrupt hundreds of infringing and harmful sites”.