The United States and Brazil have teamed up to take down sites and apps that pirated American movies and TV shows. In a joint effort dubbed “Operation 404,” seizure warrants were executed against three domain involved in the illegal reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works.
The federal law enforcement operation is targeting online services that provided illegal copies of TV shows and movies owned by American rights holders to audiences in Brazil and other countries.
The three domains – megatorrentshd.biz, comandotorrentshd.tv and bludv.tv – provided free access to copyrighted content to site visitors around the world, including feature films, both before and after their release, as well as television shows.
megatorrentshd.biz 335 different TV series and approximately 84 navigation pages, with approximately 20 movie titles per page. While comandotorrentshd.tv featured movies and TV shows, with approximately 10 titles per page, distributed across approximately 124 navigation pages, bludv.tv provided users with a selection of approximately 9,500 different entertainment titles.
“Operation 404” was coordinated by the Brazilian Secretariat of Integrated Operations (SEOPI) at the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MoJPS). Brian Rabbitt, Deputy Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the Ministry of Justice, stated the following: “By seizing these domain names, law enforcement has disrupted the illegal reproduction and distribution of thousands of pirated television shows and movies, while at the same time cutting off the profits to illegal actors who are willing to exploit the hard work of others for their own personal gain. The Ministry of Justice, together with our international law enforcement partners, will continue to take enforcement action to identify, seize, and take down these sites wherever they may exist in the world.”
As Infosecurity Magazine reports, the federal government now has custody of the domains. Users who attempt to access the delisted sites will receive a notice informing them that willful copyright infringement is a federal crime .
Finally, Derek Benner, executive deputy director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that illegal streaming is not a victimless, but it harms the creators of the broadcasts while also fueling a criminal enterprise, whose profits support organized criminal efforts.
