UN Database WIPO ALERT Helps to Facilitate Globalized Pirate Site Blocking

A report from Brazil suggests that the existence of an international site-blocking movement isn't just a theory. After contributing 8,000+ pirate domains to a database maintained by UN IP agency WIPO, Brazil goes on to describe a "unified global effort" and the importance of a system underpinning it. According to Brazil,. WIPO ALERT ensures that sites identified as infringing in one country, are subsequently blocked and deindexed by other nations.

 In Brazil, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security were scheduled to meet with National Telecommunications Agency Anatel this week to discuss a persistent piracy problem.

Known as Gatonet, these unlicensed and illegal TV networks seem to rely on their connections with organized crime.

Last week, the authorities said they’d shut down one such operation linked to a powerful drug trafficker known locally as Peixão. Sabotage of legitimate equipment and threats against engineers sent to repair it, allows illegal equipment operated by notorious criminal groups to take over local markets. Expansion beyond pirate TV into other commodity markets is common too.

“After exchanging intelligence information, it was possible to verify that the criminals were monopolizing the sales of gas and water cylinders in communities that are influenced by the criminal organization,” law enforcement officers reported last week.

Digital Threats

In addition to tackling piracy threats in physical form, Brazil also tackles infringement in the digital realm. In common with dozens of countries all around the world, site-blocking is the weapon of choice, and Brazil uses it almost continuously.

Brazil’s official blocklist is technically confidential, but practicalities dictate otherwise.

A lack of central control in a country with more than 20,000 ISPs, each left to determine how blocking is carried out (if at all in some cases), means that the list is usually available for review.

In our overview last November, we estimated that around 15,000 domains were being blocked, the majority for piracy but a significant number for links to illegal gambling.

The full list ebbs and flows as new domains are added and removed for various reasons. Right now the list contains close to 22,000 domains, which should not be interpreted as 22,000 blocked sites.

There are countless examples where single sites respond to blocking with a new domain, triggering another block and the deployment of another new domain, even several at once. The image above right spotted on a local discussion platform likens the challenge of blocking a site called Topflix to playing the game Guitar Hero; with 250 domains on the current blocklist, it’s not difficult to see why.

Brazil Reports Almost 8,000 Blocked Domains to WIPO

Operating under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), the National Council to Combat Piracy and Crimes Against Intellectual Property (CNCP) is reportedly stepping up its online anti-piracy efforts. Since Brazil participates in the WIPO ALERT program operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), CNCP recently submitted around 391 domains to the confidential WIPO ALERT program.

WIPO ALERT is described as a centralized list of pirate site domains submitted by participating countries, confirmed last year as 15 following the addition of Ukraine. The stated purpose of WIPO ALERT, to help advertisers avoid pirate sites, has remained substantially unchanged since its 2019 launch.

In an announcement this week, CNCP said it had submitted another 7,931 domains subject to local blocking orders to the central WIPO ALERT database. It also revealed WIPO ALERT to be much more than just an advertising ‘blacklist’.

Central Point For Global Site-Blocking Information

CNCP Executive Secretary, Andrey Corrêa, explained that WIPO ALERT plays an important role in global cybersecurity by preventing fraud and other crimes associated with pirate sites.

“This international collaboration mechanism is a clear example of how cooperation between countries and organizations strengthens the fight against criminal activities in the digital environment,” Corrêa said.

The announcement then continued with the following (emphasis ours):

The platform is essential for a unified global effort to combat digital piracy, with the exchange of information between governments and international organizations.

 

This sharing increases the effectiveness of copyright protection and online security measures, reducing the distribution of illegal content and benefiting both consumers and content creators.

 

The system also ensures that once a website is identified as an infringer in one country, it can be blocked and de-indexed in other nations.

How this works in practice isn’t explained. However, since there’s a general push towards administrative blocking programs rather than those authorized by court orders with judicial oversight, it wouldn’t be a surprise if WIPO ALERT-listed domains were eventually waved through locally on a ‘trusted submitter’ basis.

Coupled with WIPO ALERT-PAY, a pilot apparently launched last year to strangle access to payment service providers globally, WIPO ALERT appears to be focusing on the bigger picture and a globalized anti-piracy response.

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