TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — American officials and business representatives visited the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Thursday (May 14) for exchanges in intellectual property protection following the bust of an illegal streaming site last month.

The visit was paid by members of the American Institute in Taipei (AIT), AmCham Taipei, Taiwan OTT Association, Taiwan Intellectual Property Alliance, and Satellite Television Broadcasting Association.

On April 8, the CIB announced it had busted the largest illicit online streaming website in Taiwan, 8maple.ru, operated by two Taiwanese computer programmers. The website is believed to have incurred infringement losses of up to NT$1 billion (US$33.4 million) to companies in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, China, and other countries.

The arrest was made in a Taiwan-U.S. collaboration involving intelligence sharing between the CIB’s Telecommunications Investigation Corps and Washington-based Motion Pictures Association (MPA), reported CNA. This has led to the shutdown of around a hundred pirate streaming websites.

In another example of closer bilateral ties, Taiwan and the U.S. will work together to fight copyright infringement. The cooperation entails the inclusion of Taiwanese investigative personnel in U.S.-conducted training and the establishment of windows for better intelligence sharing and more effective investigation.

According to the CIB, the police have dealt with 8,942 cases concerning copyright infringement since 2018, amounting to over NT$26 billion in damages.