Authorities Shut Down 999 Websites Selling Counterfeits

In 2015, law enforcement authorities from 18 European countries, including Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Hungary and Latvia, participated in Europol-led, international anti-counterfeiting operation In-Our-Sites (IOS) VI that resulted in shutting down of 999 websites worldwide for selling counterfeit products.

Europol’s main role was to gather and analyze data from all participating countries and exchange information with rights holders from the private sector.

The IOS project began in November 2012. Europol in cooperation with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and local law enforcement agencies closed down a total of 3,000 websites worldwide. This year Interpol also supported the project through eight of its member countries – Argentina, Chile, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Panama, Peru, South Korea and Thailand.

Prepared by: Masa Lopicic Popovic

For more information, please contact mail@petosevic.com.

Source: Europol website