Authorities in Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador are moving to block 317 websites linked to stream ripping and malware distribution, a coordinated action led by Peru’s intellectual property authority, INDECOPI.
The targeted sites drew an average of 15 million visits per month over the past year and reached more than 5.4 million unique visitors in the same period, according to IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).
The campaign, named Operation LUMEN, takes place on Wednesday (September 23). IFPI, which represents the recording industry worldwide, says internet service providers in the participating countries will block access to the identified domains.
Of the 317 targeted sites, 44 were tied to malware distribution or other malicious activity, affecting more than 4.7 million users, IFPI said.
Agencies involved in Operation LUMEN#
National agencies taking part include:
- Paraguay’s DINAPI
- Brazil’s CyberGaeco and ANCINE
- The Dominican Republic’s ONDA
- Ecuador’s SENADI
"Operation LUMEN shows what can be achieved when authorities work together across borders to tackle threats like piracy," said Victoria Oakley, CEO of IFPI.
"IFPI’s study confirmed that website blocking can be an effective and proportionate tool in disrupting access to illegal services, including by helping to drive users towards licensed services and paid subscription pages, and this coordinated action will help disrupt hundreds of infringing and harmful sites.
"We commend the leadership and cooperation of the authorities participating: this initiative will help protect artists and fans while supporting a healthier digital marketplace for music."
Blocking study and prior enforcement actions#
The study Oakley refers to was carried out by IFPI last year and examined what happens to consumer behaviour after infringing sites are blocked. IFPI says it found that consistent blocking produced a 15% to 50% increase in visits to licensed music services such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
The same study recorded a 3% to 8% rise in visits to pages for new paid accounts and subscription upgrades, according to IFPI.
IFPI says Operation LUMEN follows years of work with enforcement agencies across the region, and points to what it describes as growing recognition among those authorities of the effect of blocking on access to infringing content.
Stream ripping works by pasting a link from a licensed service such as YouTube or Spotify into an external tool, which pulls down a permanent audio file from the stream.
Operation LUMEN lands after a run of blocking actions secured by the recorded music business in other markets.
- In June 2026, the Federal Court of Canada issued the first site-blocking order in that country obtained on behalf of the music industry, requiring nine internet service providers to block stream-ripping domains including Y2mate.ws and YTmp3.lat.
- In October 2025, IFPI shut down Y2mate.com and 11 other stream-ripping sites through enforcement action in Vietnam, with the sites having drawn over 620 million visits globally in the preceding year.
- IFPI and Pro-Música Brasil also backed Operation Redirect in Brazil in 2024, a campaign whose first phase deactivated eight sites that shared unauthorized music while exposing users to malware.
Latin America was the fastest-growing recorded music region in 2025, with revenues up 17.1% year over year, according to IFPI’s Global Music Report 2026. Brazil ranked as the world’s eighth-largest recorded music market last year, with Mexico at No.10.
