ACE Shuts Down Popular Pirate Sites, 27+ ‘Instant Pirate Sites’ Fall Over
In the final days of 2023 as people were preparing to welcome in the new year, yet more pirate domains were being redirected or transferred into the hands of the MPA, presumably as part of a settlement agreement. Among them were uhuseries.com, owlserieshd.com, and ahaseries.com, relatively popular streaming platforms targeting the Thai market. We gave the news a brief mention at the time but since MPA/ACE have certain procedures to...
Vietnam’s Pirate Site Blocklist Quietly Adds Torrent Sites
In recent years, Hollywood has played close attention to major pirate sites and services with connections to Vietnam. Representing rightsholders, MPA and ACE visited Vietnam last year to discuss piracy-related challenges with local authorities. The focus on Vietnam resulted in some progress. Anti-piracy coalition ACE previously shut down popular video piracy library 2Embed following negotiations with its Hanoi-based operator. Anime...
‘Stablecoins’ Enabled $40 Billion in Crypto Crime Since 2022
A new report from Chainalysis finds that stablecoins like Tether, tied to the value of the US dollar, were used in the vast majority of crypto-based scam transactions and sanctions evasion in 2023. Powered by WPeMatico
Sky’s Industrial-Scale Pirate IPTV Blocking Becomes a War of Attrition
Last summer, UK broadcaster Sky obtained a High Court injunction that requires local ISPs to block pirate IPTV services illegally offering its content. Blocking injunctions aren’t new or unusual but since limited information is made available to the public, anyone interested in the mechanisms involved and whether blocking is working must find out for themselves. We were able to determine the names of at least some of the targeted...
Publishers Target Z-Library Domains With Millions of DMCA Takedowns
With more than 14 million digital books in its archive, Z-Library is one of the largest shadow libraries on the Internet. Two of its alleged operators were arrested as part of a criminal crackdown by the United States, but the site seems largely unaffected. The Russian defendants are currently fighting an extradition battle. While their involvement with Z-Library is apparent to U.S. law enforcement, they don’t appear to be crucial to...
