China’s Pirate Site Crackdown is Real & Assisted By Anime Anti-Piracy Group
Decades of experience supports the theory that intellectual property infringement is often viewed by China as a problem to be solved by those complaining of violations on home territory. That the loudest voices continue to import mountains of Chinese-manufactured goods, including items that in some cases violate copyright and trademark laws, serves to illustrate why differences on IP enforcement are likely to continue. Other...
Fmovies Has Gone Offline, the End of a Pirate Streaming Giant?
When Fmovies first appeared on the scene in 2016, it quickly gained popularity among streaming piracy fans. Copyright holders were less pleased. They swiftly recognized the new threat and just months after the site was launched, Fmovies found itself being sued in a U.S. Court. The copyright infringement lawsuit and the $210,000 damages award were casually ignored by the site’s owners. Instead, Fmovies continued to focus on providing...
German State Moves $3 Billion in Bitcoin Seized From Pirate Site Operators
At the start of the 2010s, Movie2k was one of the most visited sites on the web. The site was an early adopter of pirate streaming and at its peak, secured a spot among the twenty most-visited websites in Germany, beating Twitter and Amazon. Movie2k’s success generated a healthy revenue stream which its operators converted to a new and exciting ‘currency’ called Bitcoin. It’s assumed that the goal was to keep the haul hidden from...
Vietnam Convicts Pirate Site Operators; a Rare Case Completed in Record Time
The double threat of some of the world’s largest pirate sites operating from Vietnam, yet limited opportunity to conduct robust enforcement actions to turn that situation around, remains a constant source of frustration for overseas rightsholders. Hollywood’s opinion on what needs to be done wouldn’t be any more clear if its submissions to the USTR were written in all caps then underlined. In light of a criminal complaint against the...
Canada’s Federal Court Grants NBA, NHL, & Premier League Piracy Blockades
Three years ago, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal upheld the first pirate site-blocking order in the country. The landmark decision opened the door to additional and more advanced blocking requests. Indeed, it didn’t take long before NHL broadcasters asked the court for a pirate streaming blocking order of their own. This NHL blocking action was followed by a FIFA World Cup blocking order, which was also granted without further...
RIAA Sues Verizon After ISP “Buried Head in Sand” Over Subscribers’ Piracy
At a time when many pirate sites seem increasingly elusive, oftentimes almost transient as domains, identities, and branding, come and go, static enforcement targets are in limited supply. The same can’t be said for internet service providers and over the past few years, several have paid a very steep price. Not for engaging in piracy per se, but for not responding aggressively enough against subscribers mostly accused of repeatedly...
