Several pirate websites are being shut down, causing concern among many about this growing crackdown.
Internet piracy is a growing problem for copyright holders such as book publishers, film producers, television stations and sports rights holders. According to MUSO, a consultancy that tracks the spread of piracy, there were almost 230 billion visits to pirated websites last year, an increase of 6.7% compared to the previous year.
See more: Music piracy is back – Especially from YouTube
However, there are signs that the wider industry is starting to fight back against the scourge of copyright infringement. Several major piracy sites have been taken down in recent weeks, accompanied by disturbingly similar notices to their users. Among the sites that have disappeared without warning or announcement is Fmovies, one of the first to be taken down.
Since then, however, several other sites have gone down, including theflixtor.to, mov2day.to, and 2flix.to. Where once a colorful collage of Netflix, allowing users to find almost anything they wanted to watch, these pages have now been reduced to simple, black-and-white web pages. Many of the sites that disappeared once offered an extensive catalog of movies and TV shows, but now display only a simple message to users who visit them.
A thoughtless sorrow
“We’ve been providing links to movies and shows for a long time. But now it’s time to say goodbye,” said the message on Fboxz.to, one of the latest sites to shut down in recent weeks. “Thank you for sticking with us all this time.
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The message continued: "PS: Please pay for the movies and shows. It is important to show our respect to the people behind the movies and shows.".
As first reported by TorrentFreak, the language in these messages is exactly the same as that used by 123Movies when it was shut down six years ago, following an extensive law enforcement investigation that spanned international borders. Of particular interest is the similarity in language, as well as the exchange of messages urging the use of legal means. Some argue that this strategy could be an attempt by the site’s owners to show leniency, should they ever be caught during an active investigation by authorities.
Signs of an industry-wide crackdown?
Since the web first emerged, piracy has flourished. The long history of the interaction between those who try to evade copyright and those who seek to enforce it shows that platform owners who break the rules often get into trouble. With the recent difficulties facing pirated websites, it seems that the same is happening here.
With each passing day, it seems like another website goes offline. Vidsrc2.to, along with Aniwave.to, AnimeSurge.to, and Anix.to, are now all gone. In early September, it appeared that law enforcement had taken significant action, as TorrentGalaxy was briefly down, but soon came back online asif nothing had happened.
However, the message is clear to users of torrenting and piracy websites: What was once considered a reliable and always available service has now turned into something much more uncertain.
See also: Russia: Satellite piracy is an act of war
Whether they left of their own accord, due to a sudden recognition that their actions were wrong, or through a more malicious and necessary intervention by the police, accompanied by the threat of prison sentences for violating copyright law, it seems that the conflict between the violators and those trying to maintain their values is becoming increasingly intense.
Source: cybernews
