Internet hacking: 166 sites blocked since the end of 2022 according to Arcom

(AFP) – Since October 2022, Arcom has blocked 166 domain names of sites hosting pirated content, as part of its new prerogatives that allow it to take action against illegal “mirror” sites without a new court decision, Arcom announced .

This series of blocks is the result of a cooperation, which started on October 5, 2022, between Arcom and the rights holders to fight against illegal downloads.

“Between October 2022 and April 2023, the entitled parties sent Arcom about forty referrals, for a total of 166 domain names, which were notified to the internet service providers”, specifies the audiovisual gendarme in a statement. Internet.

Among them are very popular streaming sites like cpasmieux or frenchstream.

Since 2021 Arcom can be seized to block services containing illegal content from sites already condemned by the courts. And this without further intervention by the judge, which speeds up the proceedings.

This “blocking of the initial sites has made it possible to reduce the audience of the targeted galaxies by 23% between October 2022 and March 2023”, according to Arcom, which intends to intensify the fight against the mirror sites in the second quarter of 2023.

Arcom will launch an awareness campaign on the subject from mid-June (television, radio, cinema, platforms and social networks).

While streaming sites are often prevented from acting, on the other hand, live movie download sites, aimed at more tech-savvy Internet users, continue to replicate and move quickly.

“Relying on strong brands for several years, they can, almost instantly after their blocking, set up new mirror sites and distribute the domain name,” regrets Arcom.

“Blocking measures remain insufficient for the moment on direct download services such as wawacity, zoneannonce or zonetelechargement,” acknowledges Arcom, while arguing that its action is starting to have an impact on illegal practices.

A first overall report indicates, according to a survey by Médiamétrie, that “in the last six months, 38% of Internet users with illegal practices admit that they have already faced a blocking of an illicit cultural service”.

“Faced with this situation, 7% of interested Internet users declare that they have turned to the legal offer and 46% have abandoned the search. 6% have instead tried to circumvent the block and 41% have referred to other services offences,” according to this quota-based survey of a representative sample of 2,000 Internet users aged 15 and over.