Quick Hit:

FMovies, the world’s largest film piracy ring, has been shut down after an international coalition that included major Hollywood studios worked with police in Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Key Details:

• FMovies, along with several affiliated sites, has been closed by a coordinated effort led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and Vietnamese authorities.
• Two Vietnamese men were arrested in connection with the piracy ring, which had attracted over 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024.
• The shutdown was praised by ACE Chairman Charles Rivkin as a "stunning victory" for the creative community worldwide.

Diving Deeper:

The world’s largest film piracy site, FMovies, has reportedly been shut down following a significant anti-piracy operation led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) in collaboration with police in Hanoi, Vietnam. The coalition, which includes major Hollywood players like Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon, and Walt Disney Studios, announced the shutdown on Thursday.

According to ACE, FMovies and its affiliated sites—bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer, and aniwave—constituted the largest pirate streaming operation in the world. Hosting provider Vidsrc.to, which was used to support these illegal streaming services, was also closed during the operation.

Two Vietnamese nationals were apprehended by Hanoi police in connection with the piracy network, though they have not yet been charged. Between January 2023 and June 2024 alone, the network drew more than 6.7 billion visits.

Charles Rivkin, Chairman of ACE and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), lauded the takedown as “a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe.” Larissa Knapp, MPA’s Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer, emphasized that this action sends a “powerful deterrent message” to those engaged in piracy. 

While Hollywood celebrated the win against piracy, some Reddit users lamented the shutdown, scrambling to find alternative sites to stream their favorite shows. “Can anyone message me with any decent sites please!! I don’t really wanna sit and have to watch YouTube all day,” one user pleaded.