City of London police warn on piracy sites via advertising space

The City of London Police has started displaying piracy warnings on websites for illegally distributing music and movies where advertisements appear on those sites. The warning prompts you to close the browser page.

The warnings will replace paid advertisements on the sites and the move is part of Operation Creative of the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit. Using the advertising space is crucial in the fight against internet piracy, a spokesperson told the BBC. According to him, piracy sites make large amounts of money from advertisements and banners of well-known brands give the sites the appearance of legality. The City of London Police is the policing organization of London’s business district, operating independently of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for the rest of London. The City of London Corporation is said to have close ties with multinationals and banks.

The police use technology from the company Project Sunblock. Major brands use this company’s services to prevent their ads from landing on sites with questionable or illegal content. Banners are often served by large networks, where brands have no idea which sites they end up on. However, Project Sunblock does monitor the sites and once a page is on the London Police Infringing Websites List, the warning is shown instead of advertisements. The sites do not make any money from this. This blacklist was announced at the end of April. It is not known which sites are on the list.