Dominican Republic presents digital piracy strategy during Regional Operation Lumen

Lima, Peru.- The Dominican Republic presented its technical and legal experience in combating digital piracy during Regional Operation Lumen, held in Lima, Peru, with the participation of authorities from Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.

The Dominican delegation was led by José Rubén Gonell Cosme, director general of the National Copyright Office (ONDA), and Lucía Castillo Arbaje, head of the agency’s Collective Management Societies Department. They participated in sessions held September 22 and 23 at Peru’s National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi).

During the operation, participating countries shared strategies and case studies for preventing, detecting and addressing copyright violations online, where services can operate through multiple domains, redirects and replicated technological infrastructure across different jurisdictions.

The Dominican delegation presented ONDA’s approach, which includes technical verification, evidence preservation and legal analysis. Investigators documented the functionality and accessibility of platforms under review, including URLs, redirects, screenshots, available formats and conversion or downloading mechanisms.

The technical review identified 126 active subdomains and mechanisms that allow platforms to operate through multiple domains and redirects. ONDA emphasized that the existence of a website or platform does not, by itself, constitute a copyright violation. Technical findings must be followed by a legal assessment to determine whether protected rights are affected and whether the activity has authorization under Law No. 65-00 on Copyright.

According to Indecopi, Operation Lumen resulted in the blocking of more than 300 websites across the five participating countries.

ONDA said the initiative strengthens the Dominican Republic’s capacity to enforce copyright protection online while expanding cooperation with intellectual property authorities across Latin America.