Operation 404, Fighting Digital Piracy in Brazil, Takes Down 300+ Websites and Apps

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The second phase of Operation 404, to fight digital piracy, was launched on Thursday morning, November 5th. Civil Police from ten states are executing search and seizure warrants in the operation coordinated by the Ministry of Justice. In addition to the warrants, the Ministry also ordered the blocking or suspension of 252 websites and 65 streaming apps.

In a press conference, Minister André Mendonça stated that luxury cars and weapons were seized during the operation. The Minister classified the practice of the crime of piracy as just as dangerous as other kinds of crimes and stated that money laundering is also involved.

“The line of investigation followed is related to individuals and companies that have systematically violated phonographic, cinematographic and other sources’ copyrights, and have done so in a professionalized, organized way, with the goal of profit. And from this unlawful collection seeking to launder the funds raised,” he said, adding:

“To such an extent that cars and weapons were also seized today. Only one target of the operation had records of an annual invoicing of R$94.5 million”.

The Civil Police of Bahia, Ceará, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Catarina and São Paulo are involved. The operation also relies on the support of the Embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom.

The name of the operation refers to the internet “Error 404”, which occurs when a computer tries to access a website and its server is unable to find it, either due to configuration issues or because the website no longer exists.

Source: O Globo

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