A court in S\u00e3o Paulo<\/strong> has ordered the permanent blocking of a website that sold artificial plays on music streaming platforms, marking the third ruling under Operation Auth\u00eantica<\/strong>, the Brazilian enforcement initiative targeting fraudulent engagement services.<\/p>\n The so-called \u2018first-instance ruling\u2019 concerns Boom de Seguidores<\/strong>, a service that offered for sale artificial plays on\u00a0Spotify<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0SoundCloud<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0YouTube Music<\/a><\/strong>, as well as fake likes, followers, and comments on social media platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n The court confirmed that the sale of such services constitutes misleading advertising and is illegal under Brazilian law. It ordered what\u2019s described as \u201cthe permanent and dynamic blocking\u201d of the domain www.boomdeseguidores.com.br and any related domains, and directed the defendant to cease offering or marketing services involving coordinated inauthentic behavior by any means. Penalty fees were also imposed.<\/p>\n The ruling follows two previous decisions under Operation Auth\u00eantica<\/strong>, against services known as Seguidores<\/strong> and Turbine Digital<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cRobust enforcement is part of the meaningful and sustained action needed across the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Melissa Morgia<\/strong>, IFPI<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Melissa Morgia<\/strong>, Global Chief Content Protection Officer at IFPI<\/strong>, said: \u201cUnder Operation Authentica, the Courts have consistently confirmed that services that enable streaming fraud mislead consumers and are unlawful. This illicit business model commercialises fraud and in the music context, ultimately diverts royalties from legitimate creators.\u201d<\/p>\n Morgia<\/strong> added: \u201cIFPI would like to thank the authorities for their ongoing efforts and will continue to support actions that create serious consequences for those involved.<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision is another step forward in fighting streaming fraud. Robust enforcement is part of the meaningful and sustained action needed across the industry. Companies at every stage of the streaming value chain \u2013 labels, distributors, platforms, aggregators \u2013 must take proactive steps to prevent, to detect and then to act on fraudulent activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Paulo Rosa<\/strong>, President of Pro-M\u00fasica Brasil<\/strong> and APDIF do Brasil<\/strong>, said: \u201cPro-M\u00fasica and APDIF applaud the decision taken by the Judge of the 12\u00aa Vara C\u00edvel of S\u00e3o Paulo-SP, in which the operators of the website \u2018boom de seguidores.com.br\u2019 were considered as offering misleading advertising and committing fraud, including the ones against the consumers, ordering such website to be shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosa<\/strong> added: \u201cIn the case of recorded music, the website\u2019s \u2018marketing services\u2019 included the sale of fake and artificial \u2018plays\u2019 of music on streaming platforms, what was clearly considered illegal and fraudulent. We also thank the State Public Attorney\u2019s office of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo for their continuing efforts to protect the legitimate Brazilian music streaming market.\u201d<\/p>\n Operation Auth\u00eantica<\/strong> was launched in 2023<\/strong> and is led by CyberGaeco<\/strong> and the Consumer Protection Prosecutor\u2019s Office of the State of S\u00e3o Paulo<\/strong>, with support from IFPI<\/strong> and APDIF do Brasil<\/strong>. The initiative targets the commercialization of fraudulent engagement services, including those that artificially inflate plays on music streaming platforms.<\/p>\n Streaming fraud has become a priority enforcement area for the recorded music industry. In February, IFPI<\/strong> Chief Executive Victoria Oakley<\/strong> and RIAA<\/a><\/strong> CEO Mitch Glazier<\/strong> co-authored an op-ed published by MBW<\/a> calling on the industry to take coordinated action against fraudulent streaming activity. Oakley<\/strong> and Glazier<\/strong> argued that fraudsters exploit gaps in platform protections, deploying bot armies to generate artificial plays and divert income from legitimate creators \u2014 a problem they said has been industrialized by generative AI.<\/p>\n\n
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What is Operation Auth\u00eantica?<\/h6>\n