Combatting the Overseas Digital Piracy Threat: New Report Shows How the United States Can Deter Overseas Criminals Who Illegally Target Americans

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Sep 19, 2024, 08:37 ET

IP House Report, Commissioned by Digital Citizens Alliance, Examines How Site-Blocking Has Worked in Over 50 Countries; Guide for Policymakers on How to Take Action Against Overseas Criminals Who Are Out of Reach of U.S. Law Enforcement

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Criminals overseas make billions of dollars targeting Americans while operating in countries out of reach of U.S. law enforcement, but a new report suggests lawmakers consider an approach adopted by dozens of countries: blocking criminals' websites from working in the United States.

The new research, "Overseas and Out of Reach: International Video Piracy and U.S. Options to Combat It," produced by IP House – experts on intellectual property protection – analyzes how site-blocking has worked in other countries to deter criminals who steal from the creative industry and then use pirated movies and TV episodes as bait to infect the devices of Internet users with malware or steal credit card information.

"As we grapple with the dangerous impact of the $2.3 billion piracy ecosystem, IP House has laid out the solution in simple terms," said Tom Galvin, executive director of the Digital Citizens Alliance, which commissioned the report. "If these criminals targeting Americans reside in countries outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement, then the logical step is to make it impossible for them to operate in the United States."

Americans accessing stolen content are much more likely to encounter dangerous digital materials than those who use legitimate sites and apps. Visitors to piracy sites are bombarded with malicious ads that use scare tactics to trick them into downloading malware, including ransomware that takes over files to force victims to pay to regain access. In addition, Internet users who use a credit card to sign up for illegal piracy streaming services to gain access to movies, TV shows, and games face a serious risk of having their card run up with charges they didn't authorize. According to a Digital Citizens investigation conducted last year, users who signed up for a piracy streaming subscription were four times more likely to report credit card fraud those who steered clear of such illicit piracy streaming services.

As part of IP House's investigation, it conducted a comprehensive review of how the piracy ecosystem works, the bad actors who thumb their noses at U.S. law enforcement, and the harms that international piracy causes. IP House determined that site-blocking has been effective without creating technical issues for the Internet infrastructure or curbing the principle of online speech.

Here are some of the key points from the IP House report:

Site-blocking efforts are effective. For example, in the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Australia, when piracy sites were blocked, traffic to those sites decreased substantially, by 89 percent in the United Kingdom, 70 percent in Portugal, and 69 percent in Australia.
Site-blocking appears to encourage more people to use legitimate streaming services. For example, when site-blocking was implemented in India it resulted in a one-year 8 percent increase in lawful streaming. In Brazil, site-blocking measures led to a 5 percent boost in lawful streaming.
While opponents of site-blocking have in the past claimed that it would "break the Internet" and limit free speech, IP House's study of the 50-plus countries that have implemented it found those fears haven't come to pass. Specifically, there has been no discernible harm done to the workings of the Internet, no impact on legitimate websites, and no impingement on legitimate speech.

Site-blocking usually involves a rigorous court process to identify websites that deal exclusively in illegal products and services (such as piracy) but are out of reach of domestic civil or criminal enforcement. If the website is found to be infringing by a court, an order is served upon relevant intermediaries, such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), to stop these criminal websites from being readily accessible in that country.

Click here to go to the IP House report.

About Digital Citizens Alliance
The Digital Citizens Alliance is a nonprofit, 501(c)(6) organization that is a consumer-oriented coalition focused on educating the public and policymakers on the threats that consumers face on the Internet. Digital Citizens wants to create a dialogue on the importance for Internet stakeholders— individuals, government, and industry—to make the Web a safer place. Based in Washington, DC, the Digital Citizens Alliance counts among its supporters: private citizens, the health, pharmaceutical, and creative industries, online safety experts, and other communities focused on Internet safety. Visit us at www.digitalcitizensalliance.org.

Contact: Adam Benson, [email protected], 202.999.9104

SOURCE Digital Citizens Alliance