Hoping to convince the US federal government to block websites it deems harmful to business, the RIAA has submitted its list of “notorious websites” with an especially notable version which includes a dig at the digital currency bitcoin.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a lobby group working for the benefit of the major record labels and other heavyweights in the music industry, submitted the list with the hope that the US Trade Representative (USTR) will block those sites from the internet - or at least make them harder to access for US users.

RIAA executive vice president Neil Turkewitz wrote that the purpose of the list is “to expose businesses who operate illegally, whether by profiting directly from the sale or other distribution of illegal materials or from facilitating such theft.”

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the RIAA’s counterpart in the United Kingdom, also convinced the British High Court to block 24 sites. The Pirate Bay, Kat, Torrent Reactor, and Extra Torrent were among the “notorious” sites that will be blocked in the UK starting Wednesday.

“Music companies are working hard to build a thriving digital music sector in the UK, offering fans great convenience, choice and value, but these efforts are undermined by illegal sites which rip off artists and contribute nothing to Britain’s vibrant music scene,” BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor told Forbes magazine.

“We asked the sites to stop infringing copyright, but unfortunately they did not and we were left with little choice but to apply to the Court, where the judge considered the evidence and declared that ISPs should not serve access to them,” he continued.

Most of the sites in question provide downloadable links, or torrents, which then redirect a user to a movie, music, video game, or software file. Torrent sites make headlines far less often than Google or Facebook, yet attract nearly as many users. The Pirate Bay, for example, was the 72nd most visited website in the world in October 2013.

“We highlight certain sites that are so central to the activities of a particular society that they almost single-handedly prevent the development of a legitimate online music marketplace,” the RIAA’s Turkewitz said in a statement.

“Others actively champion their supposed subversiveness by proclaiming to be advocates for freedom of expression while undermining the careers of creators whose very existence is based on expression.”

The RIAA also mentioned the growing bitcoin currency as a service contributing to copyright violation. Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer currency transacted using secure digital wallets, and is thus very difficult for law enforcement to track.

Seizing this opportunity, users have kept The Pirate Bay afloat by donating bitcoin to the site. Law enforcement, unable to freeze assets as it would have done if the donations were received in standard funds, has had no choice but to continue playing catch-up with the Swedish site’s current administrators - even after the original founders were convicted of facilitating infringement.

“The true operators of the site remain unknown,” the RIAA wrote in its letter, as quoted by TorrentFreak. The convicted individuals claim the site is owned by a company based in the Seychelles, although no evidence has been provided.

“In April 2013, the site started accepting donations from the public by Bitcoin, a digital currency, which operates using peer-to-peer technology,” the statement continued. “There is no central authority or banks involved which makes it very difficult to seize or trade Bitcoin funds. In May 2013, the site also started accepting Litecoin, another peer-to-peer based internet currency.”

Observers have wondered if copyright enforcers, in trying to undercut the “notorious websites,” have inadvertently supplied them with potential customers.

“This list should not be understood to be comprehensive,” wrote Michael O’Leary, vice president of the RIAA’s sister organization, the MPAA. “It does, however, indicate the scope and scale of global content theft and it introduces some of the ongoing challenges rights holders confront in protecting their intellectual property.”



