Top Movie Piracy Ring Taken Down, Major Studios’ Enforcement Group Claims

As a seasoned gamer with a vast library of digital content spanning decades, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions hearing about the takedown of Fmovies and affiliated sites. On one hand, it’s always disheartening to see a platform that has provided countless hours of entertainment disappearing overnight. But on the other, as someone who respects the hard work and creativity that goes into producing quality content, I can’t help but cheer for the victories against piracy.

A group made up of leading film studios from the United States and around the world is celebrating success in their fight against Fmovies, a substantial movie-streaming platform located in Vietnam.

Last Thursday, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment disclosed that it had joined forces with Hanoi authorities to close down Fmovies and related websites. These sites were collectively known as “the largest pirate streaming service globally,” according to the alliance. The group of sites, which also included bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer, and aniwave, in addition to Fmovies, attracted over 6.7 billion visits from January 2023 to June 2024, as stated by the alliance.

The action additionally ceased video sharing platform Vidsrc.to and associated websites, all managed by the same individuals as stated by ACE. These suspects are allegedly linked to Fmovies, and two Vietnamese men connected with this case were taken into custody in Hanoi, though they have not yet been formally charged.

In a statement, Charles Rivkin, head of both the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and ACE, hailed the action as “an extraordinary triumph for actors, film crews, screenwriters, directors, production studios, and the global creative industry.” His fellow MPA executive Larissa Knapp, vice president and head of content protection, described the takedown as sending a “strong warning” to potential offenders. She further stated that they anticipate collaborating with Vietnamese authorities, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and the ICHIP program of the U.S. Department of Justice in their pursuit of apprehending those responsible for these illegal activities.

Under the leadership of organizations such as Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon, and The Walt Disney Studios (along with others), ACE collaborates with both domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies to combat unlawful distribution of entertainment content online. Additionally, they engage in legal action and issue cease-and-desist notices. Members from various international regions include BBC Studios, Canal+ Groupe, Televisa, MBC Group, RTL, among others.

For quite some time now, FMovies has been under scrutiny by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), an affiliate of ACE. In a speech at CinemaCon in 2024, Rivkin mentioned that approximately one-third of its traffic originated from the United States. Year after year, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has listed this site on their annual “List of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy,” alongside other sites such as ThePirateBay, Sci-Hub, and 1337X. According to data compiled by SimilarWeb in 2023, FMoviesz.to ranked as the 280th most visited website globally across all categories.

Users on Reddit forums focused on Fmovies and piracy are discussing potential replacements after recent closures. One user asked, “Could someone private message me some good sites? I’d rather not spend my whole day watching YouTube; I was just in the middle of watching ‘Call the Midwife’ when it got taken down.”

“Overnight, many popular websites mysteriously vanished, seemingly at the hands of Uncle Sam. If you’ve ever shared a link to one of these sites or mentioned them here, then you might bear some responsibility for their disappearance.”

2024-08-29 16:24

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