IACC and PIPCU in joint effort to tackle online counterfeits

The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) and the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), which is based at the City of London Police, have revealed a joint initiative aimed at taking down websites selling counterfeits.

Through IACC’s RogueBlock programme—a collaboration with international payment providers—the effort will target online counterfeiters by terminating merchant accounts that illicit websites use to receive payments.

Since its inception, RogueBlock has terminated more than 5,300 individual merchant accounts.

PIPCU, as part of the partnership, will consider each website submission from RogueBlock that falls within its jurisdiction, including .uk domain names.

Bob Barchiesi, IACC president, said: “The agreement sends a clear message to counterfeiters that their illegal and deceitful actions will not be tolerated in London and beyond.”

He added that through the joint effort, the organisations can “fight counterfeiters through their wallets and their websites”.

This agreement falls under the IACC and PIPCU’s memorandum of understanding, which was signed in September 2016.

Peter Ratcliffe, detective superintendent and head of PIPCU, said: “International partnerships are the key to tackling the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods, and by working with the IACC we aim to make the internet a hostile place for criminals to sell and distribute fake goods.”

Last month, Barchiesi testified before Italy’s Parliamentary Committee Inquiry on Counterfeiting, outlining the IACC’s efforts in engaging small and medium-sized enterprises and multinationals in combating piracy and counterfeiting.