UK police to hijack banner ads to warn against piracy

The police are getting involved with the UK's new anti-piracy initiative it turns out. Right now the Police plan to take over banner ads on piracy sites to display warnings advising users to close the page and not proceed to download anything.

This is part of a campaign led by the City of London Police Intellectual Property crime unit (PIPCU). The unit will use technology provided by Project Sunblock, which is commonly used by brands in order to stop ads from appearing next to pirated content and porn.

Detective Chief Inspector, Andy Fyfe, says that hijacking banner ads will make it harder for illegal download sites to mimic legitimate adverts: “When adverts from well-known brands appear on illegal websites, they… inadvertently fool consumers into thinking the site is authentic.”

“This new initiative is another step forward for the unit in tackling IP crime and disrupting criminal profits.”  These banner ad replacements are part of Operation Creative, which will allow copyright holders to report pirated content directly to the specialist IP crime unit.

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KitGuru Says: This move could reduce ad revenue for piracy sites and could actually be effective, unlike the weak ISP warning letter initiative. 

Source: PC Pro

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