Belgian government blocks several websites that sell counterfeit goods

Belgium took part in an international campaign to block websites that sell counterfeit products. This was announced on 27 June 2013 by the 'FPS Economy' branch of the Belgian government ('FOD Economie' in Dutch). On a global scale, a total of 328 domain names were blocked under the operation 'In Our Sites'. In Belgium, 79 internet websites were seized (.be and .eu domain names).

Counterfeiting is believed to be the second largest source of income for organised crime (after drug traffic). The worldwide turnover of counterfeiting is estimated at 250 billion USD or 192 billion EUR, according to the FPS Economy.

The Belgian authorities have started a special investigation unit called 'Cybersquad' to combat various forms of internet fraud.

More information on https://economie.fgov.be/nl/binaries/20130627_pb_internationale_actie_namaakwebsites_tcm325-227027.pdf  (in Dutch) and https://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/library/factsheets/pdf/operation-in-our-sites.pdf

Author: Bart Van Besien

Finnian & Columba

Belgium

bart@finnian.be