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The advertisers' block list of pirate sites, maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has grown to more than 7,000 domain names, of which 4,000 are active. To make the "WIPO Alerts" system more transparent, the public can now search to see if a specific site is listed and, if so, by which country it was flagged.
Around the world, there are a variety of blocking schemes targeting pirate sites. Some require ISPs to block access, while others focus on advertisers.
The idea behind the ad block list is that pirate sites cannot survive without revenue. While not a silver bullet, there is some anecdotal evidence that this strategy can be effective.
Ad block lists are not new but, until a few years ago, they were relatively local. Pirate sites, however, often cater to a global audience. This lack of coordination motivated the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for develop a world system based on contributions from countries around the world.
WIPO alert blacklist
WIPO, which is part of the United Nations, was founded more than 50 years ago with the aim of protecting intellectual property. This includes combating online piracy, something it hopes to make easier with its โWIPO Alert" block list.
The goal of the project is simple; allow member state stakeholders to report problematic sites and share the resulting list with advertisers, so they can block the bad apples. This should result in less money going to pirate sites, making it harder for them to turn a profit.
The โWIPO Alertโ system went almost unnoticed, but we have followed the project closely. So far 11 countries participate; Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Spain and Ukraine.
The number of domain names included in the databases is also growing rapidly, but it is difficult to track changes as WIPO does not release many details publicly.
This limited transparency is not WIPO's choice. Speaking to TorrentFreak, WIPO Legal Counsel Thomas Dillon explains that many of the participating countries prefer to keep the details private as they don't want to "promote" pirate sites.
โWhat prevents us from publishing the database is that some participating Contributors feel that it would be undesirable to make their lists generally available, as this would effectively promote infringing websites.
โWIPO is really obliged, therefore, to leave the issue of publication to be decided at the national level,โ adds Dillon.
7,717 Domains, 4,042 Active
The organization is trying to get as much information as possible under these restrictions and was kind enough to share some additional details. For example, there are now 7,717 domains listed in the database.
Pirate sites come and go and some change domains so many of the names listed are no longer active. According to WIPO, 4,042 of the domain names in its database point to a job site right now.
Without sharing any names, WIPO said most of the targeted sites have a .com domain, followed by .net, .ru and .org.
In an effort to provide more transparency, the organization made another important change a few days ago. The public can now search the database to see if a specific domain is listed.
Not all countries signed up for this. So far, Italy, Russia, Spain, Peru, Ecuador and Lithuania have agreed to add domains to the search part of the WIPO Alert database, but not all the information is complete yet as it is still being implemented.
As shown above, a quick search for โthepiratebay.orgโ reveals that it is on the ad block list in Italy and Spain, while โfmovies.toโ is blocked in Lithuania and Italy.
appeals?
With the added transparency, WIPO makes it easy for site operators to check if they are listed and potentially attractive. Until recently, this was not possible.
โWe are constantly trying to improve the system; in this case, site operators who are concerned that their sites may be listed on WIPO ALERT can run a check and contact the relevant national authority if necessary,โ Dillon tells us.
WIPO itself remains a neutral intermediary that simply operates and facilitates the blacklisting system. The organization does not proactively notify site operators to let them know they are being attacked.
โWIPO does not attempt to contact affected domain operators; notification and appeal procedures are a matter for national agencies,โ says Dillon.
Similarly, WIPO does not assess whether or not a site should be blocked, it simply takes recommendations from participating countries, who often have their own checks and balances.
14 advertising companies
The effectiveness of the ad block list does not only depend on the number of domains listed. The number of advertising companies involved is equally important.
The WIPO Alerts system is free and open to all advertising agencies. So far, fourteen commercial companies and three commercial organizations have joined and WIPO informs us that it is in the process of incorporating another international media group.
Blocking brand ads on pirate sites has an undeniable effect as it limits the advertising options of pirate sites. However, how effective it is at cutting off the money supply remains to be seen, as there are still plenty of advertisers out there who are eager to partner with pirates.
With more advertisers joining and blocking additional domain names each year, we expect the WIPO alert database to grow accordingly. We plan to check in again next year to see how things are then.
