Since October 2022, Arcom has blocked 166 domain names of sites hosting pirate content, as part of its new prerogatives allowing it to act against illegal “mirror” sites without a new court decision, announced the Arcom. This series of blockages is the result of a cooperation, initiated on October 5, 2022, between Arcom and rights holders to fight against illegal downloads.
“Between October 2022 and April 2023, rights holders sent around forty referrals to Arcom, representing a total of 166 domain names, which were notified to Internet service providers”, specifies the audiovisual and Internet policeman in a press release. Among them, popular streaming sites like cpasmieux or frenchstream.
Since 2021, Arcom can be seized to block services containing illegal content from sites already sentenced by the courts. And this without further intervention by the judge, which speeds up the procedures. This “blocking of the initial sites made it possible to decrease the audience of the targeted galaxies by 23% between October 2022 and March 2023”according to Arcom, which intends to step up its fight against mirror sites in the second quarter of 2023. It will launch an awareness campaign on the subject from mid-June (television, radio, cinema, platforms and social networks).
Blockages that are starting to bear fruit
If streaming sites are often prevented from acting, sites for downloading live movies, addressing more tech-savvy Internet users, continue on the other hand to replicate and move quickly. “Relying on strong brands for several years, they can, almost instantly after being blocked, create new mirror sites and distribute their domain name”regrets the Arcom.
“The blocking measures remain insufficient for the moment on direct download services such as wawacity, zoneannonce or zonetelechargement”, recognizes Arcom, while arguing that its action is beginning to impact illegal practices. A first overall assessment indicates, according to a survey by Médiamétrie, that “During the last six months, 38% of Internet users with illicit practices admit to having already been confronted with a blocking of an illicit cultural service”.
“Faced with this situation, 7% of Internet users concerned declare that they have turned to the legal offer and 46% have abandoned their search. On the other hand, 6% have sought to circumvent the blocking and 41% have referred to other illicit services”according to this survey carried out using the quota method with a representative sample of 2,000 Internet users aged 15 or over.