Would-be pirates could be in for a surprise next time they visit an illegal download site.
Police will take over banner ads to display warnings that the site has been reported to the police and advise users to close the page, as part of a campaign by City of London Police's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (Pipcu) to discourage piracy.
The unit will employ technology provided by Project Sunblock, which is commonly used by brands to stop their ads appearing alongside pirated material or porn.
Detective chief inspector Andy Fyfe said the banner ads will make it more difficult for illegal download sites to mimic legitimate ones. "When adverts from well-known brands appear on illegal websites, they... inadvertently fool consumers into thinking the site is authentic," Fyfe said.
"This new initiative is another step forward for the unit in tackling IP crime and disrupting criminal profits," he added.
The banner ads are part of an ongoing Pipcu campaign called Operation Creative, which sees intellectual property rights-holders report copyright infringement to the specialist police unit.
In May, Pipcu shut down what it claimed were "several major copyright-infringing websites" as part of the project.
Anti-piracy education
The move follows an announcement last week that people who persistently download films and music illegally will start to receive warning letters from their ISPs.
However, only a maximum of four letters will be sent out, and no further action will be taken thereafter.
Adam Rendle, a senior associate at law firm Taylor Wessing, told PC Pro that these notices could be helpful for people who don't realise they're visiting an illegal site, which could in part be down to legitimate-looking ads.
However, "committed pirates" who know what they're doing but don't care won't be deterred, Rendle said.
This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk
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