![\"aniwave-logo\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/aniwave.jpg\")
Two decades ago, most piracy activity was centered around music. When broadband capacity grew, movies and TV series eventually took over and they remain most popular today.<\/p>\nTwo decades ago, most piracy activity was centered around music. When broadband capacity grew, movies and TV series eventually took over and they remain most popular today.<\/p>\n
Within the video piracy category, anime<\/a> has become a significant traffic magnet. Today, there are many piracy sites specializing in anime, with the largest serving millions of pageviews per day. <\/p>\n 9anime is one of these anime piracy juggernauts. The streaming portal first appeared on the scene in 2016 and has thrived ever since. According to recent estimates from SimilarWeb, the site is good for 110 million<\/a> monthly visits.<\/p>\n Popularity at this level also has its drawbacks. In recent years, complaints from rightsholders resulted in 9anime being blocked by ISPs around the world. Anti-piracy groups, including the ACE coalition, are actively trying to track down the platform\u2019s operators. <\/p>\n These enforcement efforts have produced usable intel. According to the IIPA, which counts the MPA among its members, the site is part of a piracy streaming conglomerate operated from Vietnam. Other piracy giants such as Fmovies and Putlocker are part of the same group.<\/p>\n This information has been shared with the U.S. Trade Representative on several occasions, most recently<\/a> in January this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe operator of the notorious streaming piracy network of sites Fmovies has over 60 associated domains, many of which are known pirate brands such as Bmovies, 9anime, Putlocker, and Solarmovies, provides unauthorized access to popular movies and TV series, and is domiciled in Vietnam,\u201d IIPA wrote.<\/p>\n At least initially, legal pressures didn\u2019t seem to impact 9anime, but this week there are signs that enforcement efforts haven\u2019t left the site completed unfazed.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of DMCA issues and multiple ISPs blocking our domain, we decided to rebrand 9anime as Aniwave. All of 9anime domains will be redirected to our new domain aniwave.to,\u201d the site\u2019s operators just announced. <\/p>\n As a result of this decision, all backup 9anime domains currently point to Aniwave.to, leaving the old brand completely behind.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A domain change can temporarily help to bypass ISP blockades and may also sidestep Google\u2019s DMCA-related downranking measures. However, that could also be achieved by simply switching to a new domain name with similar branding. <\/p>\n Apparently, 9anime has opted for entirely new branding which can be quite confusing for users, especially since many fake 9anime clones are still around.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many clone\/fake 9anime sites, they\u2019re mostly stealing your data and trying to steal 9anime\u2019s users,\u201d the operators consistently warned. However, a detailed explanation of the brand change is absent. <\/p>\n Without further information, we can only speculate at this point, but we know that Hollywood has been strengthening its relationship with Vietnamese authorities in recent months.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, representatives from the MPA and ACE met with officials<\/a> from Vietnam\u2019s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), to discuss future cooperation. <\/p>\n Through this meeting, Vietnam\u2019s Deputy Minister of Public Security, Le Quoc Hung, asked MPA and ACE to share intelligence going forward so that both sides can cooperate in their efforts to curb online piracy and copyright infringement.<\/p>\n While we don\u2019t know what information was shared, piracy hosting service 2Embed and piracy streaming portal Zoro.to, which were both operated by the same Vietnamese person, have since shut down.<\/p>\n Intriguingly, just before it was taken down by ACE, Zoro.to was reportedly acquired by a third party and rebranded to AniWatch<\/a>, which shouldn\u2019t be confused with 9anime\u2019s new AniWave brand. <\/p>\n Considering 9anime\u2019s reported connection to Vietnam, it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if enforcement efforts from MPA, ACE, and Vietnamese authorities also had a hand in the site\u2019s sudden rebranding this week. But perhaps more will become clear on that in the near future.<\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nLegal Pressure<\/h2>\n
9anime Rebrands to AniWave<\/h2>\n
![\"9anime-rebrand\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/anime-rebrand.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nIs There More to the Story?<\/h2>\n