How Operation 404 Protects Brazil’s Creative Economy

Intellectual property (IP) protections are the backbone of innovation and creativity, fueling overall economic growth. Leaders at the forefront of IP advocacy and policy pave the way for vital innovative and creative ecosystems to flourish. Each year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recognizes a handful of these leaders during the IP Champions reception.

Following this year’s event, the Global Innovation Policy Center is celebrating awardees through a dynamic series of conversations. These discussions delve into the transformative impact of intellectual property, the driving forces behind their advocacy, and their inspiring visions for the future of innovation and creativity. This article is the first in a series of five IP award winner features.

Operation 404, an initiative launched in 2019 to combat digital piracy led by Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security, received the Award for Excellence in International Enforcement. During the event, Kassius Diniz da Silva Pontes, the Minister-Counselor for Economic and Financial Affairs with the Embassy of Brazil, accepted the award on behalf of Operation 404.

We sat down with representatives from the International Office of the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety in Brazil, who shared how the initiative came to be and how it has positioned Brazil as a global leader in IP protection while supporting economic growth and consumer safety and  how the initiative came to be and how it has positioned Brazil as a global leader in IP protection while supporting economic growth and consumer safety.

What inspired the Brazilian government to strengthen IP enforcement through initiatives like Operation 404?

Operation 404 stems from the convergence of three factors:

1. accelerated growth of the digital economy;
2. expansion of the streaming market; and
3. high impact of online piracy on the creative industry, tax collection, and consumer safety.

Since 2019, when the first phase was launched, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) has identified that combating piracy is not just a sectoral issue, but a matter of public safety, economic development, and protection of rights.

Based on this diagnosis, the Ministry began coordinating integrated actions with Civil Police forces from various states, agencies of the Unified Public Security System, and international partners, focusing on suppressing crimes against intellectual property committed on the internet, especially through pirate streaming websites and applications.

The central inspiration is to protect the work of creators, preserve jobs in high value-added sectors, and reduce the scope of action of criminal organizations that finance themselves through digital piracy.

How will stronger IP enforcement support the Lula government’s goals of fostering greater economic growth and job creation in Brazil?

Combating digital piracy and protecting intellectual property are strategic instruments in the country's economic development agenda. By strengthening this field, Brazil:

• protects knowledge-intensive production chains, such as film, music, games, and technology;
• creates a stable legal environment to attract national and foreign investments;
• preserves formal jobs, especially in creative sectors, which today account for more than 7% of the expanded cultural GDP;
• reduces tax losses associated with the illicit market; and
• strengthens the competitiveness of the Brazilian cultural industry.

Recent studies by the Motion Picture Association show that the Brazilian audiovisual sector generated more than R$ 70 billion in 2024, creating 609,000 jobs and almost R$ 10 billion in taxes.

Meanwhile, studies on digital piracy indicate losses in the billions for the formal economy and public coffers, affecting productive investments and jobs.

The audiovisual sector has a high multiplier effect on the creative economy, while the games segment maintains annual growth of over 20% and a leading regional position. These advances are directly harmed by piracy, which compromises investments, revenue, and competitiveness. Therefore, strengthening the protection of intellectual property is an essential measure to preserve formal jobs, stimulate income generation, and guarantee legal security for the creative sectors.

Therefore, Operation 404 is also an instrument of economic policy: it protects knowledge-intensive production chains, increases revenue, and directly contributes to the generation of qualified jobs.

Can you highlight a specific achievement or milestone from Operation 404 that you believe has significantly advanced intellectual property protection in Brazil?

A landmark event occurred in the seventh phase of Operation 404, in September 2024, coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security through the General Coordination of Cybercrimes. In this phase, 675 websites were blocked, 14 illegal streaming applications were removed, de-indexing actions were carried out in search engines, profiles and pages were removed from social networks, and 30 search and seizure warrants were executed, in addition to arrests.

This progress adds to the accumulated history since 2019, which shows the evolution and expansion of the scope of the operation:

• 210 websites and 100 applications blocked in the 1st phase;
• 334 websites and 94 applications in the 3rd phase;
• 461 music applications and channels in the metaverse deactivated in the 4th phase
• and hundreds of websites and applications for games, music and streaming taken offline in subsequent phases.

Beyond the numbers, one of the biggest milestones was the methodological expansion of Operation 404, which began to simultaneously integrate:

• enforcement of court orders;
• technical and judicial blocking of websites and applications;
• removal of profiles and channels on social networks;
• de-indexing in search engines;
• takedown of servers and domains abroad.

The most recent phases have also begun to target pirate IPTV, marketplaces, clandestine apps, and emerging virtual environments, substantially expanding the reach of the operation.

This set of results has consolidated Operation 404 as one of the largest actions to combat digital piracy in the world, positioning Brazil as a global reference in combating copyright crimes and strengthening the protection of the digital environment.

What role does collaboration—both domestically and internationally—play in the success of initiatives like Operation 404? Could you share an example of a partnership that has been particularly impactful?

Operation 404 is, in essence, a broad cooperation initiative, structured at both the national and international levels. In Brazil, it integrates the coordinated work of the National Secretariat of Public Security (SENASP), the General Coordination of Cybercrimes, the National Council to Combat Piracy (CNCP), the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), the Civil Police, the state Public Prosecutor's Offices, as well as regulatory bodies and representative entities from the audiovisual, phonographic, sports, and gaming sectors. This network combines market intelligence, technical data, sectoral expertise, and police capacity, increasing the precision of actions to block, de-index, and remove illicit content.

At the international level, cooperation was decisive, especially in the 7th phase of Operation 404, which involved authorities from Argentina, the United States, Paraguay, Peru, and the United Kingdom, as well as institutions such as the City of London Police, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the EUIPO – IP Key Latin America, and sectoral entities such as the Premier League, IFPI, MPA, ABTA, ESA, ACE, among others.

An operational aspect of great relevance is that this collaboration is not limited to intelligence sharing: it involves the strategic coordination of the launch dates, allowing "D-Day" to be simultaneous among the countries involved. This alignment ensures that police actions, domain blockages, server seizures, profile removals, and judicial measures occur simultaneously in different jurisdictions, drastically reducing the ability of criminal organizations to migrate, conceal, or restore illicit services.

Cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is a prime example of this integrated model, enabling domain seizures, takedowns of infrastructure abroad, and synchronized actions against globally-reaching pirate platforms. This coordinated structure demonstrates that combating digital piracy increasingly requires simultaneous and coordinated actions across multiple jurisdictions, an essential condition for the effectiveness of operations and the dismantling of transnational networks.

What are the most pressing challenges currently facing IP enforcement in Brazil, and how can initiatives like Operation 404 address these issues?

The application of intellectual property in Brazil faces complex and dynamic challenges. The first is the high speed of adaptation of illegal platforms, which rapidly migrate between domains, applications, social media profiles, distribution channels in the metaverse, and new IPTV and streaming technologies. This mutability demands equally rapid responses, both in the technical and legal fields. The most recent phases of Operation 404 already incorporate this reality, reaching not only websites, but also apps, channels, profiles, and emerging virtual environments, through continuous monitoring and cyber intelligence.

Another significant challenge is the size of the illegal market, responsible for billions of dollars in losses to the private sector and tax revenue, reducing competitiveness and directly affecting formal jobs, especially in the creative economy.

There is also the mistaken social perception that piracy is a "minor crime." In practice, it is frequently associated with criminal organizations, money laundering, the sale of personal data, and direct risks to consumers, as demonstrated in Operation Redirect, which identified pirate platforms distributing malware and facilitating the theft of bank credentials and sensitive information. Furthermore, combating digital crime requires strict adherence to data protection regulations, investigative confidentiality, the Access to Information Law (LAI), and the General Data Protection Law (LGPD), which demands robust governance, standardized protocols, and a high level of technical expertise.

Faced with these challenges, Operation 404 operates simultaneously on four strategic fronts:

1. Qualified repression, with warrants, website and app blocking, international cooperation, and simultaneous actions in multiple jurisdictions.
2. Financial and operational disruption of the illicit market, making pirate services unstable, unpredictable, and economically unviable.
3. Digital education and public awareness to reduce social tolerance for piracy.

Production of data, intelligence, and technical evidence that support public policies and regulatory improvements, such as the National Strategy for Industrial Property (ENPI), and actions coordinated by the National Council for Combating Cybercrime (CNCP), the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), and other bodies of the Unified Public Security System (SUSP).

Thus, Operation 404 addresses the structural challenges of the modern digital environment with an integrated approach, based on intelligence, prevention, repression, and the continuous formulation of public policies for the protection of intellectual property.

Looking ahead, how do you envision IP policy and enforcement evolving in Brazil over the next few years, and what role will Operation 404 play in shaping this future?

MJSP sees that, in the coming years, intellectual property policy will be increasingly integrated into the agendas of economic development, digital transformation, cybersecurity, innovation, and consumer protection. Strategic documents such as the National Intellectual Property Strategy (ENPI), coordinated by the Ministry of Trade and Development, and the 2024–2027 Multi-Year Plan, reinforce that the fight against digital piracy has ceased to be merely a police matter, becoming part of an industrial and innovation policy, essential for the country's competitiveness.

In this scenario, Operation 404 tends to fulfill two central roles.

First, it will continue as the main repressive and permanent operation against intellectual property crimes in the digital environment, improving cyber intelligence techniques, expanding national and international partnerships, and incorporating new technologies — always with well-founded judicial decisions, respect for legal guarantees, and a focus on dismantling criminal organizations.

Based on the accumulated experience of Operation 404, it will continue to serve as a strategic basis for the formulation of public policies, producing fundamental data on illegal platforms, illicit monetization models, technical flows, consumer risks, and economic impacts. This information guides regulatory adjustments, sectoral agreements, cooperation with application providers, and the strengthening of repressive and preventive mechanisms and the coordinated de-indexing of illegal content.

In short, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security sees Operation 404 as a structuring axis of Brazilian policy to combat digital piracy, contributing to the protection of intellectual property, the strengthening of the creative economy, institutional modernization, and the consolidation of a safer digital environment for the entire Brazilian population.

About the author

Jaci McDole

Jaci McDole is Senior Director of Copyright and Creativity for the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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