Brein shut down 449 illegal websites and services last year. The Anti-Piracy Foundation reported this in its 2022 annual report. These are websites that have illegally distributed copyrighted work.

brain It was completed last year 458 investigates the illegal distribution of copyrighted content, but shares few details on the matter. The foundation currently has 40 investigations ongoing. According to Brin, 449 websites and services have been removed as a result of “enforcement actions”. According to the foundation, these are sites that offer protected works such as music, movies, series, books, writings, photos, and games for free. A year ago, in 2021, Brein had 349 such websites and services.

The organization also says that in the past year, 341 unique domains were removed from Google’s search engine, 328 proxies were taken down, and seven torrent sites were dynamically blocked at the IP and DNS levels. Brein has also suspended seven illegal streaming sites and nineteen merchants of illegal IPTV and video-on-demand subscriptions. Eleven investigations into the latter are still ongoing.

Brin also reached 45 settlements in 2022. According to Brin, these settlements consist of an abstention statement with penalty and “on top of costs and no harm.” The foundation says fines or periodic fine payments “usually” range from €5,000 to €25,000 for each part of the day or infringement, up to a maximum of €100,000 to €500,000.

Last year, Brin reached an out-of-court settlement with the online retailer and provider, for €7,000 and €20,000, respectively. The foundation also summoned an illegal service provider, who was ordered to pay Brin €25,000. The directors of the BV were also found personally liable for the illegal trade in copyright works and settled with a payment of €40,000.

Brin again says he has stopped warning frequent uploaders of illegal content. The organization wanted ISPs, such as Ziggo, to send warnings to their customers. Ziggo refused to do so and was proven right by the court in early 2022. Brin lost an appeal on this last year. Brin has already put the project on hold at the start of 2022 after a preliminary ruling and will not appeal the court ruling due to costs. However, the Foundation does not rule out modifying the project. Brin says that the providers’ customers would then experience prompts immediately rather than warnings.