This week, international law enforcement agencies behind Operation 404, a global anti-piracy initiative, reported the latest results of the campaign’s sixth wave. The ongoing campaign saw 24 search warrants executed across Brazil, Argentina, and the U.S, 606 sites and apps seized, suspended, or blocked, and arrests underway, according to Torrent Freak.
Operation 404’s sixth wave is the latest example of the pervasive problem illegal IPTV services and other pirated content presents. Authorities around the world are locked in a seemingly unending war against pirates. For context as to the scale of the problem, last month Google surpassed 5 million requests from copyright holders to remove URLs from unique domains.
This massive takedown follow’s Operation 404’s fifth wave in March, which resulted in 200 illegal streaming and game sites, 128 domains, and 63 music apps blocked as well as multiple raids and arrests across Brazil.
“[T]he sixth wave of Operation 404 keeps tracking and fighting illegal online activities, with benefits for many sectors,” Paulo Rosa, the director of Pro-Música Brasil, said in a statement.
Operation 404 has been going after internet pirates for the last four years and has suspended almost 1,500 domains, removed 780 infringing music apps, and delivered over 100 search warrants to date through a joint effort of contributors like the U.S. Department of Justice, the City of London Police, Premier League, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Brazilian civil police forces, and more.
“This sixth wave of actions by Operation 404 on infringing sites makes this one of the biggest and most concerted efforts in the world against music piracy,” Melissa Morgia, IFPI’s director of global content protection and enforcement, said in a statement. “Not only does it make an impact on infringing websites, it has evolved to tackle the growing threat posed by mobile app-based piracy.”