The Motion Picture Association’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) collaborated with Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, the Hanoi Municipal Police and US federal agencies to shut down Fmovies, which was said to be the world’s largest pirate streaming operation at that time. Its operators were arrested.
Domains associated with Fmovies drew more than 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024. According to a report submitted by the Motion Picture Association to the Office of the US Trade Representative for its 2023 Notorious Markets report in October 2023, Fmovies (had) more than 60 associated domains many of which are well-known piracy brands such as Bmovies, 9anime, Putlocker, and Solarmovies. Fmovies has been identified for that report every year since 2017.
At its peak in 2023, Fmoviesz.to was the 280th most popular website across all categories of websites globally, and the 11th most popular website in the TV, Movies & Streaming category, according to data by analytics company SimilarWeb which was quoted in the MPA’s submission to the 2023 USTR report.
A moving target
After Fmovies’ previous primary source for streaming video files, 2embed, was taken down in July 2023, Fmovies.to moved to the video streaming API vidsrc.to; a video hosting provider run by the same operators. According to ACE, takedown of the latter impacted hundreds of aditional dedicated piracy sites. The combined traffic of all streaming sites using vidsrc.to totalled 446.9 million visits in August 2023.
The site had been masked by Cloudflare’s reverse proxy service, and had been blocked in many countries, including India, Australia, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Kudos for the takedown
“Strengthening intellectual property rights is an important element of the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership,” said U.S. Ambassador Marc E. Knapper. “These prosecutions demonstrate Vietnam’s commitment to intellectual property rights enforcement, contributing to an economic ecosystem where creators and inventors can thrive.”
ACE executive Larissa Knapp noted that along with Vietnam agencies, ACE is also collaborating with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Justice International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) program, as it pursues further copyright infringement in that country.
Further reading
Vietnamese authorities, with support from ACE, take down world’s largest piracy ring. Press release. August 29, 2024. Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE)
‘World’s largest’ piracy ring Fmovies shut down by police in Vietnam. Article. by Adrian Horton. August 29, 2024. The Guardian
39 piracy operations and 33 countries profiled in USTR 2023 Notorious Markets report. Article. by Steven Hawley. January 31, 2024. Piracy Monitor
Public Submission. Comment from Motion Picture Association (PDF). Submitted October 8, 2023. Agency Office of United States Trade Representative
Why it matters
In a prepared statement by ACE, Madam Ngo Phuong Lan, the Chairwoman of the Vietnam Film Development Association (VFDA), said ““The Vietnamese movie industry is at a pivotal stage of development, transitioning from a state-subsidized production model to a rapidly growing phase driven by private sector involvement,”
“To achieve fast and sustainable growth and integrate into the global film industry, it is essential that we follow the right path. Intellectual property rights protection is a crucial element for our industry’s success. The VFDA strongly applauds the efforts of ACE, in collaboration with Vietnamese authorities, to combat the serious infringing activities of the Fmovies operators. We believe this milestone will contribute significantly to the advancement of the Vietnamese film industry,” said Ngo Phuong Lan.
