Law enforcement agencies from several European countries took part in the operation

Jun 27, 2013 07:05 GMT  ·  By

On Wednesday, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) department of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and several law enforcement agencies from Europe, coordinated by Europol, announced the takedown of a total of 328 online domains that were used to illegally sell counterfeit products.

The action is part of the campaign known as “Operation In Our Sites” or “Project Transatlantic 2.”

On its part, the HSI seized 177 domains. These domains were used to sell counterfeit trademark merchandise produced by US-based companies.

On the other hand, law enforcement agencies from Romania, Spain, the UK, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Belgium, and Bulgaria seized another 151 Internet domains from their respective countries.

“American Icon/Transatlantic Two is a great example of the tremendous cooperation between ICE, our international partners at the IPR Center and the Department of Justice,” Mark Witzal, deputy director of the US National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, commented.

“In order to go after these criminals who are duping unsuspecting shoppers all over the world, these international partnerships are vitally important. Counterfeiting is a global problem that affects us all.”

The domain takedowns come in response to complaints filed by various trademark holders.

In addition to seizing the domain names, authorities also identified PayPal accounts associated with the targeted websites. Investigating HIS field offices are currently trying to size over $30,000 (€23,000) from these accounts.

“It is important to stop the sale of counterfeit products over the internet as it undermines legitimate businesses and also often causes health and safety risks to consumers. This successful transatlantic operation sends an important message to the criminals showing them that they cannot hide despite the fact that they are operating via the internet,” Europol Director Rob Wainwright said.

According to a recent White House report, before this latest series of takedowns, a total of 1,700 Internet domains have been seized as part of Operation In Our Sites.