New Site Blocking Push Aims to Curb Italy’s Growing Stream-Ripping Numbers

Following a complaint from a local anti-piracy group, Italian telecoms watchdog AGCOM has given the green light to blocking measures against several popular stream-ripping platforms. The sites received millions of monthly visitors in Italy, where stream-ripping from sites such as YouTube has grown to become the most popular method for obtaining pirated music.

Free music is easy to find nowadays. Just head over to YouTube and there are millions of tracks, including many of the most recent releases.

The music industry earns billions of dollars through associated advertising but doesn’t like the fact that some people download the tracks for offline use.

A blunt solution would be to remove all music from YouTube. That would be easy enough, but only if losing massive revenue wasn’t a problem either. Instead, record labels and industry groups are countering the piracy threat with DMCA notices, lawsuits, and website blocking requests.

Italy’s Stream-Ripping Problem

Last year, EU research revealed that the popularity of stream-ripping services is in decline, perhaps in part due to these enforcement efforts. In Italy, however, the opposite is happening.

According to FPM, Italy’s Federation Against Music and Multimedia Piracy, stream-ripping is now the top source of music piracy, and it’s growing.

“[Stream-ripping] is the most widespread form of infringement of musical copyright and it accounts for 30% of total musical piracy in Italy,” FPM reports.

“This is a suddenly growing phenomenon: with an average of 10 million accesses from Italy per month, the illegal practice grew by 10% in the first quarter of 2024 alone.”

New Blocking Push

The good news for local music companies is that there are countermeasures available. While the music industry isn’t part of the state-of-the-art “Piracy Shield” solution, rightsholders can still request old-fashioned site-blocking measures.

FPM reported significant progress this week after local telco regulator AGCOM approved its request to block 11 domain names linked to six prominent stream-ripping services.

FPM’s request was made on behalf of the major record labels and was granted as part of AGCOM’s regular procedures, which add dozens of new blockades every month. These blockades should be noticeable, the group suggests, as they were recently responsible for a large percentage of Italy’s monthly stream-ripper visits.

Targeted domains

The circulated press release doesn’t mention the sites by name, but FPM and Enzo Mazza, CEO of Italian music industry group FIMI, was kind enough to share them directly.

One order targets various domains that use the popular YTMP3 brand. These include the domains ytmp3.nu, lumieremusic.net, ytmp3.im, and projectspark.ca. For good measure, www.lumieremusic.net, www.ytmp3.im, www.projectspark.ca are listed as ‘additional’ domains.

The five other orders target downmp3.yt, y2meta.app, x2mate.com, ytmp3.nu, and yt5s.io. These sites operate under various stream-ripper brands that are repeatedly used by copycats.

According to FPM, the sites recently had as many as three million visits per week, which is well above the average number of Italian stream-ripper visits over the past year. This is one of the main reasons the blocks were requested urgently.

FPM is pleased with the new blocking orders and thanks AGCOM for its cooperation, stating that the results have a clear impact on illegal access to music in Italy.

While the effectiveness of the blocking measures has yet to show up in the data, a brief look at AGCOM’s website shows that the domains targeted in this round are just the tip of the iceberg.

Other recent music-related targets include m3.urbanomp3s.com, beemp3.In, arcadefire.net, keepvid.online, z3.mp3juice.tools/it, id.mp3juices.vin, mp3juice.za.com, thenerdmentality.com, yt2mp3.mobi, yt8s.com, mp3juice.za.com, emp3juice.cc, mp3cielo.org, and many, many others.

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