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U.S. and UK Help Brazil to Seize Pirate Site Domains in 'Operation 401'Ernesto Van der Sar, 06 Nov 10:26 PM Last year, Brazilian law enforcement con

U.S. and UK Help Brazil to Seize Pirate Site Domains in 'Operation 401' Ernesto Van der Sar, 06 Nov 10:26 PM Last year, Brazilian law enforcement conducted a large anti-piracy campaign codenamed 'Operation 404,' referring to the well-known HTTP error code. With help from international law enforcement, the authorities took down at least 136 sites, 100 apps, and arrested eight suspects. Operation 401 #2 This week, Brazil's Ministry of Justice announced the second wave of Operation 404. With 25 search and seizure warrants in hand, law enforcement officials have blocked or seized the domain names of 252 pirate sites and 65 pirate streaming services. In addition to the blocking orders, the warrants also require search engines to deindex several domain names while social media networks are asked to disable related accounts. This is an ongoing process. The operation was coordinated by Brazil's Secretariat of Integrated Operations (SEOPI), which is part of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The Brazilian authorities received help from US and UK law enforcement which actively participated in the anti-piracy campaign. US DoJ Seizes Domain Names The US Department of Justice confirmed its involvement. Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department's Criminal Division notes that these types of operations help to protect content creators. "By seizing these domain names, law enforcement has disrupted the unlawful reproduction and distribution of thousands of pirated television shows and movies, while also cutting off the profits to unlawful actors willing to exploit the hard work of others for their own personal gain," he said. The US authorities seized the domain names of torrent sites megatorrentshd.biz, comandotorrentshd.tv, and bludv.tv, which are now showing a prominent seizure banner instead. According to an affidavit in support of the U.S. seizure warrants, these domains provided "free access to copyrighted content to website visitors all over the world, including released and pre-release feature-length movies and television shows." Aside from the three domain names released by the US authorities, not much is known about the targeted sites. There are no reports of confirmed arrests either. Brazilian media sources have released footage of the various raids that were conducted across ten states. These raids resulted in the confiscation of computers, phones, guns, documents, as well as significant amounts of cash in various currencies. In addition to regular pirate sites, streaming subscription services were also targeted, but no names have been released in public. UK Involvement Linked to ETZV and Torrents.io? In the UK, the PIPCU unit of the City of London Police was involved. The UK officials likely helped to seize one or more domain names, but we have yet to receive official confirmation. Operation 404 coincides with domain seizures of popular torrent sites, EZTV.io and Torrents.io. The .io registry is managed by the Internet Computer Bureau, which is a British company. TorrentFreak has learned that the .io registry suspended EZTV.io and Torrents.io following an order from UK law enforcement so it is certainly possible that these sites were targeted as part of the same operation. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Megaupload: Police Prepare to Seize Assets of Co-Founder Mat­hias Ortmann Andy Maxwell, 06 Nov 08:47 AM Earlier this week attention turned to New Zealand's Supreme Court as a panel of judges prepared to publish their decision in the extradition case of Kim Dotcom and several of his former Megaupload colleagues. In their ruling, a panel of judges at the Supreme Court confirmed that Dotcom and former Megaupload colleagues Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato, can technically be extradited to the United States to face charges of criminal copyright infringement. However, the Court also granted the men permission to challenge the decision via a judicial review. Mathias Ortmann Now Under the Spotlight Just days after Dotcom's legal team welcomed the chance to have their say on the alleged deficiencies in the case thus far, all eyes are now turning to Mathias Ortmann. While all of the defendants are facing extradition and serious criminal charges in the United States, as Megaupload co-founder and Dotcom's former right-hand man, Ortmann is one of the more important pieces in this constantly shifting puzzle. Like Dotcom, Ortmann helped generate significant sums of money for Megaupload and indeed himself, something that didn't go unnoticed by authorities in the United States who are now trying to get their hands on his assets overseas. Police Are Preparing to Seize Assets in Australia According to a report in The Australian (paywall), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are preparing to seize assets in the country attributable to Ortmann. The precise nature of those assets is unclear but back in 2015, an asset forfeiture complaint (pdf) filed by the US Government as part of the action against the 'Mega Conspiracy' listed Ortmann as the account holder for several Megaupload-related bank accounts in Australia. Huge volumes of cash, vehicles and other assets were originally seized by the authorities following the 2012 raid on Megaupload. Dotcom was subsequently able to claw back some of these after legal processes in New Zealand and Hong Kong. However, after being branded as fugitives by the US Government, Dotcom and his co-defendants were still denied access to millions of dollars. An appeal failed, as did further action at the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Authorities Obtained Order to Seize Ortmann's Australian Assets In 2017, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a further appeal by the defendants. As a result, the authorities obtained an order from a court in Virginia to use the Australian Federal Police to seize Ortmann's Australian assets. On the back of the US foreign forfeiture order, the AFP is now pursuing Ortmann through the Supreme Court of New South Wales. According to The Australian, Ortmann – who together with co-defendant Finn Batato still works at Megaupload successor Mega in New Zealand – is yet to respond to the forfeiture attempt. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2020 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company