Police shut down two of the biggest anime pirate sites in Brazil

National Secretariat of Public Safety (Senasp) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety (MJSP), shut down two of the biggest anime piracy sites from Brazil. In addition to the shutdown, the police also complied with the court’s orders for search and seizure, de-indexing of content on search engines and removing profiles on social networks.

The so-called “Operation Animes” launched on February 8 and continued over the following weeks. Last week, the target was a 22-year-old university student living in Arapiraca (AL). Supposedly responsible for an illegal Japanese animation streaming page.

According to Sidney Tenório, representative of the Cybercrime Division, the young computer science student had confiscated objects such as computers, cell phones, and other technological devices.

“For this, we recruited an expert from the State of São Paulo to assist with the search,” the delegate said.

The Ministry of Justice reported that the arrest warrant was fulfilled in Minas Gerais, Pompeu municipality, as well as in Alagoas. There, police confiscated computing equipment such as internal HDs and PCs that would serve to demonstrate the “materiality of crime”.

Anime Operation

A Operation Animes is a spin-off of Operation 404. It was launched in collaboration with organizations like the Content Overseas Distribution Association (Coda), a Japan-based association that started in 2019 that fights internet piracy and crimes against intellectual property – and whose members own the rights to Japanese content. representatives of the Japanese government.

MJSP did not reveal the names of the two anime streaming sites that were shut down. However, users on social networks found that: One of the sites that was shut down was Better AnimeHe began to give a farewell message.

“The walk was beautiful and full of learning, but it was time to close the project. Thank you to everyone who has supported us during this time,” says a quote from the text.

Brazilian legislation provides for two to four years’ imprisonment and fines for copyright infringers. In addition to this crime, suspects may also be responsible for complicity and money laundering crimes, according to MJSP.