INDECOPI suspends 'thepiratebay.pe' domain name registration

The Peruvian Institute for the Defence of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) has ordered Red Científica Peruana - the administrator of the '.pe' country-code top-level domain - to suspend the registration of the domain name 'thepiratebay.pe'.

INDECOPI based its decision on the fact that the 'Pirate Bay' website has been involved in legal controversies in other jurisdictions, and that it has been proven that the website contributes to the violation of third-party IP rights.

Several foreign courts have issued resolutions finding that the administrators of the 'Pirate Bay' website were responsible for the sharing of unauthorised IP-protected content by internet users and have ordered that 'Pirate Bay' websites be shut down in their jurisdictions.

INDECOPI mentioned several important decisions such as that issued by a Swedish court, which had found that four of the administrators of the 'Pirate Bay' website were liable for contributory infringement of IP rights - that is, the website had contributed to the infringement of IP rights as users were directed to unauthorised IP-protected content through the website. Additionally, the 'Pirate Bay' name and the logo of a pirate boat are clearly part of the popular terminology applied to IP rights infringement. In addition, according to a statement appearing on the 'Pirate Bay' website, it was created and founded by the Swedish Anti-Copyright Organisation. INDECOPI considered that all of these factors were clear indications that the website corresponding to the 'thepiratebay.pe' domain name was intended to infringe IP rights.

The Pirate Bay has been seeking to avoid the law by changing its domain names in order to block several judicial orders. Within this context, INDECOPI ordered the suspension of the domain name 'thepiratebay.pe' in order to prevent further IP violations. INDECOPI also ordered that, should Red Cientifica Peruana not suspend the domain name registration for 'thepiratebay.pe', it would be liable to pay an economic fine of approximately $255,000, and INDECOPI would also denounce it for not obeying a public authority.

Red Cientifica Peruana complied with the order issued by INDECOPI.

Adriana Barrera, BARLAW - Barrera & Asociados, Lima