Five countries to block 317 music piracy sites in Operation Lumen
Internet providers across five countries will cut access to 317 music piracy sites on 23 September under a coordinated action called Operation Lumen.
The targets drew an average of 15 million visits a month over the past year and reached more than 5.4 million unique visitors, according to Music Business Worldwide. Most are linked to stream ripping, where audio played on a licensed service is copied into an unauthorised file to keep or share.
The operation was devised and is led by Peru's intellectual property authority INDECOPI. It brings together authorities in Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador for simultaneous enforcement.
The participating agencies include Paraguay's DINAPI, Brazil's CyberGaeco and ANCINE, the Dominican Republic's ONDA and Ecuador's SENADI. Internet service providers in each participating country will block access to the identified domains.
Forty-four had a second problem. Those 44 sites were tied to malware distribution or other malicious activity, and that activity affected more than 4.7 million users.
Site blocking works by ordering providers to stop resolving a domain, so the address no longer loads. Rights holders favour the method because it can be applied to many sites at once without pursuing each operator in court.
Industry data cited in the report links consistent blocking to higher use of licensed services. An IFPI study found blocking produced a 15% to 50% increase in visits to licensed music services such as Spotify and Amazon Music, alongside a 3% to 8% rise in visits to pages for new paid accounts and subscription upgrades.
For listeners in the affected countries, this means some free download and ripping links will stop working. Paid streaming services, ad-supported tiers and download stores remain available.
Separately, IFPI said music companies had united in a new commitment to combat streaming fraud to protect artists, songwriters and fans, in a news item dated 14 September 2026. IFPI named 27 supporters, including Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, HYBE, Merlin, IMPALA and WIN, alongside distributors and service providers such as The Orchard, ADA, AWAL, FUGA, CD Baby and Ditto Music, and invited other music distribution services to join, according to IFPI.
