292 internet domain names seized for selling counterfeit products

The domains were seized for selling counterfeit products including luxury goods, sportswear, electronics and pharmaceuticals

Europol and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, together with 25 law enforcement agencies from 19 countries, have seized 292 domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to unsuspecting consumers.

The 292 domain names seized are part of project 'In Our Sites Transatlantic V'.

The operation was coordinated by Europol for its partners - Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and the United Kingdom - and the HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Washington, DC, for the United States.

Since August, Europol and the IPR Center have received leads from trademark holders regarding the infringing websites, which were then circulated to law enforcement authorities in the participating countries.

The domain names seized are now in the custody of the governments involved in these operations. Visitors typing those domain names into their web browsers will find either a banner that notifies them of the seizure and educates them about the crime of wilful copyright infringement, or the visitors will not be able to access the website anymore.

The most popular counterfeit products concerned include the traditional luxury goods but also sportswear, electronics, pharmaceuticals and pirated goods like movies and music.

While seizing the websites is only one way of disrupting and hindering the criminals behind the sale of counterfeits on the Internet, law enforcement authorities also now focus increasingly on the 'follow-the-money' approach, in line with the EU Action Plan on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Project IOS is a sustained law enforcement initiative that began to protect consumers by targeting the sale of counterfeit merchandise on the Internet. The 292 domain names seized under Operation IOS V brings the total number of IOS domain names seized to 1829 since the IOS project began in November 2012.

Counterfeit products being sold online not only rip off the consumer and provide shoddy products, but also put their personal financial information at risk.

Consumers are encouraged to report counterfeit products and websites selling them, but also encouraged to raise awareness with others because counterfeiting crimes result in many victims. In addition, the crimes can cause revenue and tax losses, unemployment, environmental, health and safety issues for humans and animals, human exploitation and child labour.