Peru’s Successful Effort in Combating Online Piracy

By Espinosa Bellido Abogados

The National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection (Indecopi) of Peru played a crucial role in the latest international anti-piracy operation known as Operation 404, organized by Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

Operation 404 is one of the largest copyright infringement campaigns of its kind and includes a range of actions targeting unlicensed music services. The name 404 references the HTTP protocol response code to indicate that a page was not found or unavailable. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), to date the operation has already achieved wide-ranging success resulting in the suspension of nearly 1,000 domains, removal of 720 infringing music apps, and delivery of 96 search warrants. 

In its fifth edition the operation seeked to neutralize services and systems that violate intellectual property rights in the digital sphere. Indecopi engaged with Operation 404 for the first time since 2019, working with Brazilian authorities to shut down a major web ring, which had more than 72 domains dedicated to music piracy, including MP3 Download and stream-ripping sites. 

The Copyright Office of Indecopi received information from Brazilian authorities regarding the existence of the illegal network of websites operating under the name "Gran tono," which was administrated by a Peruvian citizen.

In response, the Copyright Commission issued a precautionary measure ordering the blocking of the websites. Subsequently, the Technical Secretariat of the Commission successfully convinced the administrator of "Gran tono" to permanently and voluntarily shut down the websites.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian authority achieved the closure of 102 illegal streaming and gaming websites, 63 music applications, 128 dynamic domain name blocks, and the blocking of six messaging channels involved in the unauthorized sharing of music.

The successful outcomes of Operation 404 reinforce the importance of international cooperation in preserving the integrity of intellectual property in the digital age.