ACE has officially announced their part in taking down what they claim to be the “World’s Largest Piracy Ring” in FMovies and other pirate streaming websites.
In a press release, the anti piracy coalition noted that they worked with Hanoi Police in Vietnam to take down the illicit service.
In their statement, Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA and Chairman of ACE, noted the importance of removing these illegal providers.
The takedown of Fmovies is a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe,
With the leadership of ACE and the partnership of the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Municipal Police, we are countering criminal activity, defending the safety of audiences, reducing risks posed to tens of millions of consumers, and protecting the rights and livelihoods of creators.
FMovies had numerous “sister” websites that were also part of the shutdown, including popular names such as bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer, and aniwave.
The press release stated that between January of 2023 and June of 2024, these sites drew more than 6.7 billion visits with FMovies gaining the majority of these, seeing nearly 374 million visits per month.
In 2023, it was the 280th most popular website in the world and 11th most popular site in the Movies/Shows & Streaming category.
FMovies provided links to streaming choices in high definition, mostly Movies and TV Shows, without a subscription package or membership.
Revenue was earned through ads which is a common method for these platforms to still earn money and offer free content to site visitors.
However, as its popularity rose, so did legal pressure and only a few months after its initial launch it was sued by Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN in a US federal court.
Ultimately, the site owners ignored the lawsuit and continued with business as usual. But the legal woes did not end there as US rightsholders and anti-piracy coalitions continued to pursue the operators and put them at the top of their “notorious markets” list.
Other countries like Australia worked with the MPA to enlist site blocking measures against FMovies that would ultimately deny access to anyone in the country attempting to visit the website.
However, the biggest threat to the media streaming giant came in late 2023 when US Lawmakers showcased FMovies at a House Judiciary hearing that included high powered outlets such as the UFC, MPA, and more.
During this hearing, Committee Chair Darrell Issa noted the challenges of streaming websites and even called out one by name – FMovies. The website was even displayed on the screen and mentioned by US Rep. Ted Lieu:
I just went on my phone and went on Fmovies and it’s still up. And I can watch Willy Wonka for free without paying for it. Why don’t the online service providers block it right now, like today?
This is such an unreasonable case it is so clearly online piracy copyright infringement and you don’t want your organization and your members to be defending something so blatantly unlawful and unreasonable. So I just ask your members to block that site today.
It appears as though all of the legal and public pressure against the website has led to its downfall as Vietnamese authorities have officially shut the service down with the help of US Homeland Security Investigations and the US Department of Justice International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP).
Executive VP and Chief Content Protection Officer for the MPA, Larissa Knapp, recognized these forces for their work in closing FMovies:
We commend the Hanoi Police for working with ACE to shut down the world’s largest piracy ring and sending a powerful deterrent message in this milestone case… The takedown of Fmovies is a testament to the power of collaboration in protecting the intellectual property rights of creators around the world.
While the official website is no longer available, there are still various “mirror” sites that you can find with a simple google search. It will be interesting to see if these encounter the same fate as FMovies in the near future.
We will keep you updated as more information is made available.
You can find the official press release from ACE using the link below.
Vietnamese Authorities, With Support from ACE, Take Down World’s Largest Piracy Ring
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