The 2024 Notorious Markets List (NML) from the Office of the US Trade Representative identified 38 online markets and 33 physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. However, many additional infringing sources identified by the submitters did not make it into the NML.
Actions against pirate streaming services, including wholesale pirate stream suppliers and resellers of pirate-enabled Internet Protocol television (IPTV) applications and physical illicit streaming devices (ISDs) is ongoing.
Many of the 60 submissions received by the USTR registered recurring themes, including the nature of piracy as an ecosystem.
Piracy Ecosystem
The ecosystem of piracy is made up of components that can play roles both in facilitating and in reducing piracy. These include domain name registries and registrars, reverse proxy and other anonymization services, hosting providers, caching services, advertisers and advertisement placement networks, payment processors, social media platforms, search engines, and network management infrastructure; among others.
While a number of the piracy sites identified in the report have been subject to blocking orders in countries where blocking is a government policy, the report did not take an opportunity to mention the lack of any blocking regulation in the United States.
Pirate operations cited in the report:
1337X, 1FICHIER, 2EMBED, AMARUTU, AVITO, BAIDU WANGPAN, BUKALAPAK, CUEVANA, DDOS-GUARD, DHGATE, DOUYIN SHANGCHENG (DOUYIN MALL), FITGIRL-REPACKS, FLOKINET, GENIPTV, HIANIME, INDIAMART, KRAKENFILES, LIBGEN, MAGISTV, NSW2U, PINDUODUO, RAPIDGATOR, RUTRACKER, SAVEFROM, SCI-HUB, SHOPEE, SQUITTER, STREAMTAPE, TAOBAO, THEPIRATEBAY, TORRENT GALAXY, UNKNOWNCHEATS, VEGAMOVIES, VIRTUAL SYSTEMS, LLC, VK, WHMCS SMARTERS, Y2MATE, YTS.MX
Submitters to the USTR
These are content producers, distributors and organizations with concerns about movie, television, sports and other entertainment content:
The Association of American Publishers, Simpletv, Internet Infrastructure Coalition, RIAA, International Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP), Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), US Chamber of Commerce, The App Association, Cloudflare, beIN Media Group Miramar, The Football Association Premier League Ltd., Motion Picture Association, and the Entertainment Software Association.
The App Association detailed threats that include copying of apps, extracting and illegally ur-using app ontent, disabling an app’s locks and advertising keys. Another concern is “brandjacking” – in which an infringer injects malicious code into an app that collects users’ private information and republishes a copy of the app. The republished app looks and functions like the original—often using the same name, logo, or graphics– ultimately luring customers who trust the brand into downloading the counterfeit app and putting their sensitive information at risk
Cloudflare provided a rebuttal to the accusations by others, that Cloudflare enables or tolerates piracy.
Some of the submissions identified infringers that were not carried into the USTR report. Two examples are ISTQSERVICES and INNETRA, both of which were identified by IBCAP. AVIA identified Kingsport, Xoilac and several others. beIN Media Miramax identified Dragon Mart. The Premier League identified 32 infringing sources, not all of which made it into the USTR report.
Piracy close-ups
In Vietnam, the Hanoi Police collaborated with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) program, and the MPA’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) to shut down the site Fmovies and associated piracy sites in July and August 2024 after a multi-year investigation.
Fmovies was said to be the world’s largest piracy ring: domains controlled by the piracy operation drew more than 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024. The Hanoi Police has sought prosecution of two suspects from the Fmovies case, and right holders urge enforcement authorities to move this case through the criminal process without delay and impose suitably deterrent sentences for any violations found. Fmovies had been included in the Notorious Market List since 2017.
Another positive development from Vietnam was the conviction of the operator of BestBuyIPTV in the People’s Court of Hanoi, which was the result of another investigative collaboration with HSI, the DOJ ICHIP program, and ACE. This case marks the first conviction in Vietnam in a criminal copyright infringement case. After pleading guilty, the operator received a suspended sentence of 30 months in prison and was also ordered to pay a criminal fine of about $4,000 and $12,000 in restitution, as well as forfeit $24,000 in illegal profits.
Rightholders welcomed the landmark case as a significant step forward in combating online piracy in Vietnam and sending a clear message that piracy will not be tolerated. BestBuyIPTV had been included in the Notorious Market List since 2019.
Operation 404
In September 2024, Brazil conducted the seventh installment of Operation 404, an ongoing anti-piracy operation that has been underway since 2019. Phase 7 focused on music stream-ripping websites and apps in Paraguay and Brazil. Stakeholders and enforcement authorities from across the world, including from Argentina, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Peru, collaborated in the enforcement enforcement operation.
Other anti-piracy successes
In other enforcement efforts, the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN conducted 615 investigations that resulted in the shutdown of 610 piracy sites and services.
In the United Kingdom, authorities arrested a number of individuals for their involvement in online piracy through illicit streaming operations, including one who was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail for advertising and selling specially-configured set-top boxes that gave viewers access to illegal streaming content.
In November 2024, Operation Taken Down, an investigation directed by the Catania District Attorney’s Office in Italy involving Europol, Eurojust, and other law enforcement agencies across Europe, as well as the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA), reportedly dismantled an international pirate IPTV network serving 22 million users and generating an estimated €3 billion, or approximately $3.12 billion, per year.
About the report
The Office solicits input from copyright stakeholders for a three month period that ran from August into October 2024.
USTR first identified notorious markets in the 2006 edition of the USTR’s annual Special 301 Report and has published it annually as a separate report since 2011.
Further reading
2024 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy. Report. January 8, 2025. Office of the US Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President
USTR releases 2024 review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy. Press release. January 8, 2025. Office of the US Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President
Individual comment documents submitted in response to USTR Request. Submitted August 16, 2024 through October 16, 2024. Office of the US Trade Representative.
USTR’s Request for Public Comments, 2024 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy. August 16, 2024. Office of the US Trade Representative.
Brazil’s Operation 404. Article archive – 2019-2024. Piracy Monitor
BREIN: Dutch anti-piracy org reports multi-faceted approach in 2023 annual report. Article. June 16, 2024. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor
Vietnam-based Fmovies piracy ring taken down, had nearly 374 million visits per month. Article. August 29, 2024. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor.
Vietnam: Authorities commended for landmark online piracy conviction. Article. April 23, 2024. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor.
Europol, AAPA and police take down €250M/month piracy operation, said to be largest ever. Article. November 27, 2024. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor
Actions against pirates offering illicit streaming devices in the UK by FACT and police. Article archive. Piracy Monitor
Notorious Markets reports from past years. 2019 through 2023. Piracy Monitor archives.
Why it matters
Commercial-scale copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting cause significant financial losses for U.S. right holders and legitimate businesses, undermine critical U.S. comparative advantages in innovation and creativity to the detriment of American workers, and pose significant risks to consumer health and safety.
The report highlights prominent and illustrative examples of online and physical markets that reportedly engage in, facilitate, turn a blind eye to, or benefit from substantial piracy or counterfeiting.
A goal of the NML is to motivate appropriate action by the private sector and governments to reduce piracy and counterfeiting. The report is intended to increase public awareness and help market operators and governments prioritize intellectual property enforcement efforts that protect American businesses and their workers.
