The Most Notorious Piracy Hubs in the World, According to the EU

Has the European Union just given a boost to piracy websites?

For years, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has published a list of the most notorious piracy hubs in the world.

The list has included top MP3 download, YouTube-to-MP3 stream rippers, and other pirating websites. These include the now-shuttered YouTube-to-MP3.org and KickassTorrents.

At the beginning of the year, the European Union vowed to publish a list of its own.

The note read,

“The list will identify and describe the most problematic marketplaces – with a special focus on online marketplaces – in order to encourage their operators and owners as well as the responsible local authorities and governments to take the necessary actions and measures to reduce the availability of IPR infringing goods or services.”

Now, the EU has made good on its promise, inadvertently boosting piracy in the process.

The Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List details sites, services, and other websites that help promote copyright infringement through piracy.

Among online marketplaces offering copyright-protected content, the report lists:

• Cyberlockers – RapidGator, Uploaded, Openload, and 4Shared, among many others.
• Stream-rippers – H2Convertor and Downvids.
• Linking or referrer websites – FullHDFilmizlesene, Seasonvar, Dwatchseries, and 1Channel, among others.
• Peer-to-peer and BitTorrent – The Pirate Bay, Rarbg, Rutracker, Torrentz2, and 1337x.
• Unlicensed pay-per-download sites – MP3Va/MP3Caprice.
• Websites for piracy apps – Popcorn Time.
• Hosting providers – Cloudflare and Private Layer.
• Ad-Networks – WWWPromoter.

The report also lists notorious counterfeit e-commerce platforms, online pharmacies and services, and physical marketplaces.

E-Commerce platforms include Bukalapak, EVO Company Group, Lazadam, Naver, and Snapdeal, among others.

Online pharmacies and services include EVA Pharmacy, PharmCash, RxProfits, and ZhuHai NaiSiNiKe.

The most notorious countries that openly allow the sale of counterfeit goods in physical marketplaces include Argentina, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, and Mexico, among many others.

Speaking for the music industry, Frances Moore, Chief Executive of IFPI, said,

“Music has value that must be protected, and we welcome this step by the EU on behalf of music creators. For our part, record companies are coordinating global enforcement action to tackle copyright infringement. However, the illegal sites named in the list employ a deliberately complex, multi-jurisdictional and often anonymous set-up of their operations, which allows the operators to hide their identity and location.”

You can view the list below.

https://www.scribd.com/document/3953...564#from_embed