Europol Shuts Down Over 30,500 Piracy Websites in Global Operation

Among other things, the seized domains reportedly offered
various counterfeit goods and pirated products and services,
including pirated movies, illegal television streaming, music,
electronics, cracked software downloads, counterfeit
pharmaceuticals, and other illicit products.

However, it should be noted that the seized web domains do not
include any major pirate websites on the Internet.

During the investigation, international law enforcement officials:

• shut down a total of 30,506 web domains,
• arrested three suspects,
• seized 26,000 luxury clothes and perfumes,
• seized 363 liters of alcoholic beverages, and
• seized an unspecified number of hardware devices.

The officials also identified and froze more than €150,000 from
several bank accounts and online payment platforms.

The domains were seized, and arrests were made as part of an
ongoing anti-piracy effort, dubbed ‘In Our Sites X‘ (IOS X),
that Europol launched in 2014 and ran with the help of European
Union member states and international law enforcement.

“‘In Our Sites’ (IOS), launched in 2014, is the continuation of
a recurrent joint global operation that has increased significantly
year-on-year,” the Europol says in its press
release.
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The operation was backed by 18 EU member states, including
Albania, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Croatia,
Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom, as well as Hong Kong, China, the United States, and
Eastern Europe.

Last year, the In Our Sites initiative resulted in the shutdown
of more than one million copyright-infringing website domains that
were found selling counterfeit automotive parts, electrical
components, personal care items, and other fake goods.