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Operation 404: 11 Arrests, Hundreds of Pirate Sites, Apps & Domains BlockedAndy Maxwell, 15 Mar 10:21 AM Brazil's crackdown against pirate sites, IP

Operation 404: 11 Arrests, Hundreds of Pirate Sites, Apps & Domains Blocked Andy Maxwell, 15 Mar 10:21 AM Brazil's crackdown against pirate sites, IPTV services, infringing apps, and other mechanisms delivering illegal content to the masses, continues to press ahead. In the wake of similar operations in previous years, including action reported in August 2022, a new phase of Brazil's 'Operation 404' anti-piracy initiative was announced on Tuesday. Operation 404.5 – Phase 5 The launch of the 5th phase of Operation 404 is described by Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) as an "international mobilization" coordinated by the MJSP, through the National Secretariat for Public Security (Senasp), with support from police in eight states. "The objective is the removal of audio and video content, such as games and music, blocking and suspension of illegal streaming websites and applications, de-indexing of content in search engines and removal of profiles and pages on social networks," an MJSP announcement reads. "In this 5th phase, eleven people were arrested: four in São Paulo, two in Paraná, one in Bahia and four in Minas Gerais," the government ministry reports. Search and seizure warrants to locate computer equipment were executed in the states of Pernambuco, São Paulo, Paraná, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, Ceará and Rio de Janeiro. "199 illegal streaming and gaming sites and 63 music apps were also removed, in addition to blocking 128 domains," the ministry says. A total of six "messaging app channels" with more than 4,000 subscribers were also blocked, reportedly for distributing music that had not been officially released. International Cooperation The local operation received significant international support. Authorities say they collaborated with the UK's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and the British Embassy, Peruvian intellectual property protection agency INDECOPI, MPA Latin American, anti-piracy group Alianza, and US-based videogame industry group Entertainment Software Alliance (ESA). TorrentFreak obtained what appears to be a notice directed toward visitors to seized sites and domains. In addition to the groups listed above, it reveals the participation of the UK's Intellectual Property Office, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, Brazil-based music industry group APDIF, and global music industry group IFPI. According to the latest figures, Operation 404 has led to the blocking of 1,974 websites and 783 apps since it began in 2019. The names of the sites and apps are never mentioned in material released to the public. During a Ministry of Justice press conference Tuesday, there was a clear effort to associate pirate sites with malware and a "certainty" that people downloading music or watching pirate streams would have their private information exposed. That led to a moment of unexpected dark humor (and concerned faces) when a journalist suddenly mentioned a Globo report containing claims that Brazil operated a secret system capable of monitoring the locations of up to 10,000 people by simply entering their phone numbers. Focus on Pirate TV Services A key focus area for Brazilian authorities is the illegal TV market, encompassing pirate IPTV services, illegal streaming websites, and the flood of set-top boxes that have saturated the local market. In a late December 2022 announcement, Brazil's National Film Agency (ANCINE) revealed a "reformulation" of its anti-piracy operations. Citing overlapping activities that risked straying into areas where the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) has authority, ANCINE said that it would "move away" from actions targeting the TV piracy market. Moving forward, ANCINE said that its focus would be on the protection of locally produced audiovisual works. As a result, technical cooperation with the Motion Picture Association in Latin America would come to an end. The involvement of the MPA in the 5th phase of Operation 404 suggests that overall cooperation continued. Earlier this year, ANATEL said that its work to disrupt the pirate TV market would continue using various means. Increased pressure on the sale of non-certified, non-approved set-top boxes, for example, and actions against illegal pay TV services that distribute content via the internet or otherwise rely on it. Following our report last summer that Brazil planned to visit Portugal and Spain to learn more about their ISP blocking programs, we can confirm those visits went ahead and that Brazil views widespread blocking as a key weapon in the fight against piracy. ANCINE and ANATEL Announce New Partnership After announcing the signing of a 'Technical Cooperation Agreement' last week, it appears that ANCINE and ANATEL will now work together to combat pirate TV services. The agreement covers an initial period of 24 months and will see ANCINE tracking and monitoring pirate services. Based on ANCINE's complaints, ANATEL is expected to issue instructions to ISPs for the services to be blocked. "With this exchange of information, ANCINE will signal the content that is being transmitted illegally and ANATEL may request the blocking of the channel or the pirated site", says ANATEL's Moisés Moreira. "The idea of ​​this exchange of information is to have speed, because in a case involving a sports match, for example, you have to be quick. It's a different scenario from a website or channel that is, for example, airing a TV series." Last month ANATEL said it had already begun blocking IP addresses in an effort to disrupt 'gatonets', a mishmash of subscription piracy TV services accessed via set-top decoders, IPTV devices, and various software applications. In a move designed to protect Japanese animation content, last month Brazilian authorities said they had shut down two of the largest dedicated anime piracy sites in the region. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Spinrilla Wants to Ban the Terms 'Piracy' and 'Theft' at RIAA Trial Ernesto Van der Sar, 14 Mar 09:57 PM Operating a mixtape site is not without risk. By definition, mixes include multiple sound recordings that are often protected by copyright. Popular hip-hop mixtape site and app Spinrilla, which has millions of users, is well aware of these risks. In 2017, the company was sued by several record labels, backed by the RIAA, which accused the company of massive copyright infringement. "Spinrilla specializes in ripping off music creators by offering thousands of unlicensed sound recordings for free," the RIAA commented at the time. Spinrilla Fought Piracy Accusations The hip-hop site countered the allegations by pointing out that it had installed an RIAA-approved anti-piracy filter and actively worked with major record labels to promote their tracks. In addition, Spinrilla stressed that the DMCA's safe harbor provision protects the company. As the case progressed, both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The music companies requested rulings to establish, before trial, that Spinrilla is liable for direct copyright infringement and that the DMCA safe harbor doesn't apply. Spinrilla countered with cross-motions, filed under seal, in which they argued the opposite. Judge Amy Totenberg eventually sided with the record labels in 2020, concluding that the mixtape site is indeed liable. Millions in Potential Damages In her ruling, Judge Totenberg concluded that 4,082 copyrighted sound recordings were streamed, at least once, through Sprinrilla's website or app. The scale of the damages will be decided at trial and after several delays, the jury is currently set to gather in a few weeks. With thousands of copyrights at stake, damages could potentially exceed $600 million if the jury finds that the infringement was willful. With the stakes this high, both sides will do their best to present their most favorable arguments. That also means efforts to prevent witnesses, evidence, and even specific words being presented to the court. These requests come in the form of 'motions in limine' where the parties ask the court to keep certain information from the jury. Several of these motions were submitted to court over the past few days. Piracy and Theft According to recent filings, Spinrilla is particularly concerned over potential piracy stigma. The company notes that the music industry has spent years painting a picture of being under siege by "pirates," "thieves" and "trespassers". This type of rhetoric might make the jury more likely to see Spinrilla's activities as willful, which could increase the damages award. This should be prevented by banning these disparaging terms at trial, the platform says. "Defendants anticipate that Plaintiffs will continue to refer to piracy and pirates so that the jury will be predisposed to find the Defendants acted willfully," Spinrilla writes. "These terms are not evidentiary, have no probative value, and are highly inflammatory such that they will create undue prejudice. Accordingly, the Court should bar Plaintiffs from referring to Defendants as 'pirates' or having engaged in 'piracy' or 'theft' other similarly disparaging words." 'Piracy History is Irrelevant' In a separate motion, Spinrilla asks the court to bar the music companies from discussing the history of online piracy. Piracy may have hurt the music industry's revenues over the years but that shouldn't impact an appropriate award for damages, the mixtape service says. "Spinrilla is not liable for the entirety of online piracy that started with Napster. Nor can Spinrilla be required to pay statutory damages that are calculated based on the injury to record labels by companies that operated years before Spinrilla was formed." According to Spinrilla, the music companies want to discuss historical piracy issues because that would increase the chances of a higher award for damages. "The evidence is not tethered to the facts of this case. Rather, it is designed to brand into the brains of the jurors, that Defendants should be punished for the cumulative effects of infringement that Defendants had no hand in creating," Spinrilla argues. Record Labels Want Financials Excluded The above is just a selection of the motions submitted by Spinrilla. At the same time, the music companies are fighting equally hard for the court to keep specific information from the jury. According to one of the filings, Spinrilla included over 2,000 pages of consolidated financial reports for Universal Music Group, Sony Corporation, and Warner Music Group, the plaintiffs' parent corporations. These financial documents are misleading, according to the music companies, as they also include revenue from entirely unrelated businesses such as semiconductors, batteries, and film revenues. The plaintiffs believe that this information could be used to create a misleading and prejudicial impression of their financial resources, which has no relevance to the damages calculation. "Overwhelming the jury with voluminous combined financial statements of Plaintiffs' parent corporations would confuse the jury, who would be left to wonder about the relevance of this information in calculating the amount of statutory damages they should award. "The simple and undeniable fact is that this information has absolutely no relevance to that calculation," the music companies add. All in all, it is clear that both sides are trying to establish the best possible base before presenting their arguments to the jury. At the time of writing the court has yet to rule on these motions ahead of a trial scheduled to start next month. — Spinrilla's cited motions in limine are available here (1,2 pdf) and the music companyies' motion can be found here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2023 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