ACE Goes After Fmovies Sister Site ‘Successors’
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is arguably the world’s most active anti-piracy coalition. The group systematically hunts down key piracy players on behalf of the major Hollywood studios and other prominent entertainment companies such as Apple, BBC, and Netflix. It’s safe to say that ACE had a hand in the demise of most large piracy operations of recent years. The group took down several key players including the...
Pirate IPTV Raid: 150+ Encoders, STBs, and Servers Seized, Operators Arrested
A cursory skim through blocking records for Italy’s Piracy Shield system reveals that pirate IPTV servers can operate from almost anywhere. Asia-linked servers and services make regular appearances in the AGCOM list with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan-based platforms causing issues for rightsholders all over the world. Within China itself, enforcement actions take place far less often than rightsholders believe they should, but in...
17-Year-old Student Exposes Germany’s ‘Secret’ Pirate Site Blocklist
In 2021, Germany joined a growing list of countries that have an institutionalized pirate site blocking scheme in place. Several large ISPs teamed up with copyright holders and launched the “Clearing Body for Copyright on the Internet” (CUII), which is responsible for handing down blocking ‘orders’. While CUII doesn’t rely on court judgments, there is some form of oversight. When copyright holders report a pirate site, a review...
Unofficial M3U8 Playlists For Pluto TV, Samsung & Plex, Shut Down By Warner
Free advertising-supported streaming television services, such as market leader Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Samsung TV Plus, offer a traditional linear TV viewing experience, via an app, at zero cost to the consumer. Despite most internet users being constantly spoiled by the availability of free content, as a value proposition FAST services are undoubtedly impressive. Had something similar been available to the public a couple of...
Webtoon Targets 170+ Pirate Domains Through DMCA Subpoena
Launched two decades ago, Webtoon Entertainment has established itself as one of the prime hosting platforms for short digital comics. Partly owned by the South Korean company Naver, Webtoon rode the popular ‘webtoon’ wave all the way to the Nasdaq exchange, where it got a listing this summer. With millions of creators on board, and roughly 170 million active monthly users, the webtoon company is seen as a growth story. While that may...
Kakao Reveals Anti-Piracy Successes, Legal Action Against Major Manga Sites
For companies reliant on sales of digital products delivered via the internet, any level of success is likely to face not just unlicensed competition, but rivals offering identical products with a price tag marked ‘free’. How to tackle this threat depends on the product, the audience, and the location and nature of pirate sites and services active in the niche. Current thinking suggests that companies with synergies can benefit by...
