Hey guys, guess what just happened? Netflix, Walt Disney Studios and a bunch of other major studios just made a big move against online piracy. They managed to bring down one of the largest illegal streaming operations in the world called Fmovies. They couldn’t have achieved it without a little help from their friends, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE). It’s quite a big deal and believe it or not, they achieved this with the help of Vietnamese law enforcement.
Crackdown on Pirate Streaming
Last Thursday, ACE let everyone know about their covert operation. They managed to break down Fmovies and many other similar sites. Some of them include bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer, and aniwave. These sites were bad news and were making a lot of money from illegal streaming. According to ACE, these sites were the largest pirate streaming operation in the world. And it’s a shocker because from January 2023 to June 2024, these sites had over 6.7 billion visits. That’s a lot of eyeballs on illegal content!
Illegal sites behind bars
This all wasn’t just about rogue video-sharing sites. They also got Vidsrc.to, which provided video hosting for the same folks who ran Fmovies. Police in Vietnam even arrested two guys who were behind this operation. They haven’t been charged yet, but I presume that’s just around the corner.
Charles Rivkin, the head honcho of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), seemed pretty happy about the whole thing. He also runs ACE, by the way. He said that it was a great win for all the people who create content like actors, directors and writers. Another top executive at MPA, Larissa Knapp, said that this action was a strong warning for anyone thinking about doing similar things. She also mentioned their strong ties with Vietnamese authorities, and some US agencies like Homeland Security and the Department of Justice’s ICHIP. That’s a program which focuses on computer hacking and intellectual property.
ACE is a pretty big deal. They include Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon, and The Walt Disney Studios among their members and they work closely with domestic and foreign law enforcement to stop online piracy. Besides taking down illegal sites, they also send sternly worded letters to those who infringe rights. Some of their partners around the world include BBC Studios, Canal+ Groupe, Televisa, MBC Group, and RTL.
Pirate Streaming, A Thorn in the Flesh
Fmovies has been a pain to the MPA for quite a while now. In fact, Rivkin told attendees at CinemaCon that almost one-third of Fmovies’ traffic came from the U.S. The site has also made its way onto U.S. Trade Representative’s naughty list for piracy and counterfeiting numerous times, along with sites like ThePirateBay, Sci-Hub, and 1337X. And get this, according to SimilarWeb (a company that gathers online data), Fmoviesz.to was the 280th most popular website in the world in 2023. That’s across every category!
Gone But Never Forgotten
With the shutdown, many users who enjoyed the service are in a bit of a tizzy. On Reddit threads dedicated to Fmovies and piracy, many users have questioned where they would get their content from now. Some even blame their fellow users for the shutdown, accusing them of exposing their favorite sites. It’s a significant win against online piracy and could change the internet streaming landscape going forward. So if you’re out there using pirated streaming sites, maybe it’s time to start thinking twice.
After all, the streaming apocalypse might just be around the corner.
Check the full story on https://projectcasting.com/blog/news/entertainment/fmovies-shutdown-studios-claim-major-victory-against-piracy