Ever since the existence of online piracy first hit the mainstream, the phenomenon has been described using words such as massive or vast.

Setting the bar so high means that as far as basic descriptions go, the last quarter-century has always had a huge piracy problem. Only when focusing on a relatively small aspect of the piracy market and then pausing to look up, does the true scale come into focus.

When Italy officially launched its Piracy Shield platform on February 1, 2024, the stated aim was to eliminate IPTV piracy on home turf. Almost literally, it transpires, since the majority of all blocking in 2024 has been carried out by broadcasters such as DAZN and Sky, to protect top-tier football league Serie A.

Controversies litter the past eleven months. Cloudflare and Google were both wrongfully targeted as enthusiasm to prevent piracy took precedence over the interests of internet users, and previously promised transparency gave way to almost complete unaccountability. What can or will be done to prevent further overblocking in 2025 remains to be seen but, thankfully, we can offer a little more transparency right now.

Piracy Shield: The State of Blocking 2024

Telecoms regulator AGCOM has just released its 2024 annual report ( pdf ) and at 200-pages long it’s a hefty read. In respect of Piracy Shield it offers little enlightenment. The report states that from February 1 to May 26, 2024, rightsholders requested and obtained 13 precautionary measures in respect of the illicit transmission of live sports.

In the same period, 18,879 fully qualified domain names (FQDN) and 4,006 IP addresses were blocked by Piracy Shield.

Data provided to TorrentFreak by an anonymous source is more comprehensive. The data claims to include all IP addresses blocked by the system until just a few days ago, more than 6,900 in total.

The number of fully qualified domain names, meaning domain names and all subdomains where they exist, is significantly larger, almost 17,500.

Using geo-location tools provided by ipinfo.io, it’s immediately apparent that servers located in Europe itself account for the majority of IP addresses blocked by Piracy Shield. How many of these locations indicate an originating source of pirated streams is beyond the scope of this article, but it’s clear that it’s relatively uncommon for distant IP addresses to service Italy directly.

Reasons for that include a preference for local datacenters based on performance, onward distribution of streams for use by local suppliers, and in theory a reduced risk of IP addresses ending up on Italy’s blocklist and others elsewhere in Europe. Success in that respect seems patchy.

Europe and Other Regions Closer to Home

Moving more closely towards Italy reveals that IP addresses have been blocked in almost all countries in Europe, with notable absentees Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Greece.

With some of their name labels almost completely obscured by location markers, Italy’s northern neighbors appear to be among those causing the country the biggest headaches.

The focus box shows that 196 IP addresses have been blocked in Italy itself. This is interesting for a number of reasons. In general, most countries limit their blocking to overseas services/locations because in theory, blocking is a last resort, useful when pirate services are beyond the jurisdiction of national police and the courts. With virtually no restrictions on which IP addresses are placed on Italy’s blacklist, nothing is a surprise.

The Badlands of Western Europe

While 196 IP addresses is normally quite a lot, for Piracy Shield that isn’t a particularly large number. When compared to other European countries with coastlines on the North Sea, it fades into insignificance.

Considering that the Netherlands, Germany, and France all have established domestic site-blocking programs, it’s notable that these countries appear to be among the major exporters of pirate streams. That being said, the Netherlands appearing at the top of the list isn’t a surprise. In general online piracy terms, not much has changed in 20 years, except for the method used to deliver the content.

At the heart of Europe, Germany in second place isn’t a major shock either. However, given attitudes to copyright elsewhere in the EU, other locations might be a more logical, if not less practical choice, with the same applying to France. Romania’s position seems about right; the country has always had great internet, is known to be favored by some suppliers, with rightsholders still complaining about enforcement options in the background.

Given the volume of entities in the list and the shifting nature of domain names, more time is needed to process those, so we’ll return to this topic very soon.

In the meantime, the top 10 countries blocked by Piracy Shield worldwide in 2024 (IP addresses only)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Ever since the existence of online piracy first hit the mainstream, the phenomenon has been described using words such as massive or vast.

Setting the bar so high means that as far as basic descriptions go, the last quarter-century has always had a huge piracy problem. Only when focusing on a relatively small aspect of the piracy market and then pausing to look up, does the true scale come into focus.

When Italy officially launched its Piracy Shield platform on February 1, 2024, the stated aim was to eliminate IPTV piracy on home turf. Almost literally, it transpires, since the majority of all blocking in 2024 has been carried out by broadcasters such as DAZN and Sky, to protect top-tier football league Serie A.

Controversies litter the past eleven months. Cloudflare and Google were both wrongfully targeted as enthusiasm to prevent piracy took precedence over the interests of internet users, and previously promised transparency gave way to almost complete unaccountability. What can or will be done to prevent further overblocking in 2025 remains to be seen but, thankfully, we can offer a little more transparency right now.

Piracy Shield: The State of Blocking 2024

Telecoms regulator AGCOM has just released its 2024 annual report ( pdf ) and at 200-pages long it’s a hefty read. In respect of Piracy Shield it offers little enlightenment. The report states that from February 1 to May 26, 2024, rightsholders requested and obtained 13 precautionary measures in respect of the illicit transmission of live sports.

In the same period, 18,879 fully qualified domain names (FQDN) and 4,006 IP addresses were blocked by Piracy Shield.

Data provided to TorrentFreak by an anonymous source is more comprehensive. The data claims to include all IP addresses blocked by the system until just a few days ago, more than 6,900 in total.

The number of fully qualified domain names, meaning domain names and all subdomains where they exist, is significantly larger, almost 17,500.

Using geo-location tools provided by ipinfo.io, it’s immediately apparent that servers located in Europe itself account for the majority of IP addresses blocked by Piracy Shield. How many of these locations indicate an originating source of pirated streams is beyond the scope of this article, but it’s clear that it’s relatively uncommon for distant IP addresses to service Italy directly.

Reasons for that include a preference for local datacenters based on performance, onward distribution of streams for use by local suppliers, and in theory a reduced risk of IP addresses ending up on Italy’s blocklist and others elsewhere in Europe. Success in that respect seems patchy.

Europe and Other Regions Closer to Home

Moving more closely towards Italy reveals that IP addresses have been blocked in almost all countries in Europe, with notable absentees Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Greece.

With some of their name labels almost completely obscured by location markers, Italy’s northern neighbors appear to be among those causing the country the biggest headaches.

The focus box shows that 196 IP addresses have been blocked in Italy itself. This is interesting for a number of reasons. In general, most countries limit their blocking to overseas services/locations because in theory, blocking is a last resort, useful when pirate services are beyond the jurisdiction of national police and the courts. With virtually no restrictions on which IP addresses are placed on Italy’s blacklist, nothing is a surprise.

The Badlands of Western Europe

While 196 IP addresses is normally quite a lot, for Piracy Shield that isn’t a particularly large number. When compared to other European countries with coastlines on the North Sea, it fades into insignificance.

Considering that the Netherlands, Germany, and France all have established domestic site-blocking programs, it’s notable that these countries appear to be among the major exporters of pirate streams. That being said, the Netherlands appearing at the top of the list isn’t a surprise. In general online piracy terms, not much has changed in 20 years, except for the method used to deliver the content.

At the heart of Europe, Germany in second place isn’t a major shock either. However, given attitudes to copyright elsewhere in the EU, other locations might be a more logical, if not less practical choice, with the same applying to France. Romania’s position seems about right; the country has always had great internet, is known to be favored by some suppliers, with rightsholders still complaining about enforcement options in the background.

Given the volume of entities in the list and the shifting nature of domain names, more time is needed to process those, so we’ll return to this topic very soon.

In the meantime, the top 10 countries blocked by Piracy Shield worldwide in 2024 (IP addresses only)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Ever since the existence of online piracy first hit the mainstream, the phenomenon has been described using words such as massive or vast.

Setting the bar so high means that as far as basic descriptions go, the last quarter-century has always had a huge piracy problem. Only when focusing on a relatively small aspect of the piracy market and then pausing to look up, does the true scale come into focus.

When Italy officially launched its Piracy Shield platform on February 1, 2024, the stated aim was to eliminate IPTV piracy on home turf. Almost literally, it transpires, since the majority of all blocking in 2024 has been carried out by broadcasters such as DAZN and Sky, to protect top-tier football league Serie A.

Controversies litter the past eleven months. Cloudflare and Google were both wrongfully targeted as enthusiasm to prevent piracy took precedence over the interests of internet users, and previously promised transparency gave way to almost complete unaccountability. What can or will be done to prevent further overblocking in 2025 remains to be seen but, thankfully, we can offer a little more transparency right now.

Piracy Shield: The State of Blocking 2024

Telecoms regulator AGCOM has just released its 2024 annual report ( pdf ) and at 200-pages long it’s a hefty read. In respect of Piracy Shield it offers little enlightenment. The report states that from February 1 to May 26, 2024, rightsholders requested and obtained 13 precautionary measures in respect of the illicit transmission of live sports.

In the same period, 18,879 fully qualified domain names (FQDN) and 4,006 IP addresses were blocked by Piracy Shield.

Data provided to TorrentFreak by an anonymous source is more comprehensive. The data claims to include all IP addresses blocked by the system until just a few days ago, more than 6,900 in total.

The number of fully qualified domain names, meaning domain names and all subdomains where they exist, is significantly larger, almost 17,500.

Using geo-location tools provided by ipinfo.io, it’s immediately apparent that servers located in Europe itself account for the majority of IP addresses blocked by Piracy Shield. How many of these locations indicate an originating source of pirated streams is beyond the scope of this article, but it’s clear that it’s relatively uncommon for distant IP addresses to service Italy directly.

Reasons for that include a preference for local datacenters based on performance, onward distribution of streams for use by local suppliers, and in theory a reduced risk of IP addresses ending up on Italy’s blocklist and others elsewhere in Europe. Success in that respect seems patchy.

Europe and Other Regions Closer to Home

Moving more closely towards Italy reveals that IP addresses have been blocked in almost all countries in Europe, with notable absentees Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Greece.

With some of their name labels almost completely obscured by location markers, Italy’s northern neighbors appear to be among those causing the country the biggest headaches.

The focus box shows that 196 IP addresses have been blocked in Italy itself. This is interesting for a number of reasons. In general, most countries limit their blocking to overseas services/locations because in theory, blocking is a last resort, useful when pirate services are beyond the jurisdiction of national police and the courts. With virtually no restrictions on which IP addresses are placed on Italy’s blacklist, nothing is a surprise.

The Badlands of Western Europe

While 196 IP addresses is normally quite a lot, for Piracy Shield that isn’t a particularly large number. When compared to other European countries with coastlines on the North Sea, it fades into insignificance.

Considering that the Netherlands, Germany, and France all have established domestic site-blocking programs, it’s notable that these countries appear to be among the major exporters of pirate streams. That being said, the Netherlands appearing at the top of the list isn’t a surprise. In general online piracy terms, not much has changed in 20 years, except for the method used to deliver the content.

At the heart of Europe, Germany in second place isn’t a major shock either. However, given attitudes to copyright elsewhere in the EU, other locations might be a more logical, if not less practical choice, with the same applying to France. Romania’s position seems about right; the country has always had great internet, is known to be favored by some suppliers, with rightsholders still complaining about enforcement options in the background.

Given the volume of entities in the list and the shifting nature of domain names, more time is needed to process those, so we’ll return to this topic very soon.

In the meantime, the top 10 countries blocked by Piracy Shield worldwide in 2024 (IP addresses only)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2017, a new global anti-piracy coalition formed under the umbrella of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The Alliance for Entertainment and Creativity ( ACE ) bundled the powers and pockets of dozens of entertainment companies, and were joined by many more in the years that followed.

While skeptics may have dismissed the launch of yet another anti-piracy group, ACE was and is a grand success. The group has industry members and law enforcement contacts all over the globe, allowing it to pool intelligence and take action more effectively than ever before.

2024: A Transformative Year

The past year has been eventful for ACE on many fronts. The Alliance waved goodbye to its main boss, Jan Van Voorn, who left to work on a new IP-protection startup, IP-House. While his expertise will be missed, several key hires aim to fill the gap.

In June, Larissa Knapp was announced as the alliance’s new Global Chief of Content Protection. Knapp brings a wealth of experience from her 27 years at the FBI . As one of the highest-ranking officials, she managed over 2,000 personnel.

Other hires announced this year also bring much to the table, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Bostick, who also served as Deputy Director for the Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit. As the MPA’s new Head of Global Litigation, Bostick will also oversee international litigation related to ACE activity.

Bryan Willett, a former FBI agent, is another key addition to the team. He will serve as the MPA’s VP Content Protection Enforcement for the Americas region, where he will develop and oversee ACE’s internet enforcement strategy, aiming to further curb online piracy.

2024: Landmark Shutdowns

While expanding the team is crucial for the future of ACE, the Alliance’s core objective of shutting down piracy operations remains unchanged. And 2024 saw no shortage of accomplishments on that front.

Looking back, the shutdown of the Fmovies piracy ring , together with Vietnamese authorities, stands out. This impacted many popular pirate brands, including Aniwave, Soap2dayx2, Zoroxtv, Fboxz, Animesuge, Cinezone, and many others.

These sites, which were wiped out overnight, collectively received billions of visits per year. The Vietnamese authorities are prosecuting the alleged mastermind of the Fmovies operation, which may bring more details to the forefront in the coming year.

There were many other key shutdowns in the past year too. In January, ACE shut down a football piracy streaming operation, in May IPTV sellers had their domains seized , Animeflix was pushed offline in July , and in September Egypt’s largest pirate site ‘Laroza’ was toppled .

Toward the end of the year, popular anime site Animefenix shut down ‘voluntarily’ citing legal pressure. The same happened to Braflix a few weeks earlier. Neither site mentioned ACE in their farewell messages but since both domains now redirect to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page, it’s not hard to guess where the pressure came from.

The above is just a selection of ACE’s actions. In total, several hundreds of domains were either seized or shut down by the group over the past twelve months. And there are no signs that enforcement activity will slow down anytime soon.

2025: Fresh & Familiar Targets

Just before Christmas, MPA and ACE went back to court, with Larissa Knapp requesting several DMCA subpoenas at a California federal court. Through the subpoenas, ACE wants Cloudflare and the .to domain registry (Tonic) to share information related to numerous domain names.

“This would include the individuals’ names, physical addresses, IP addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, payment information, account updates and account history,” Knapp writes.

These targets are all related to pirate streaming sites, services, or apps, some with dozens of millions of monthly visits. Anime site Anitaku is the most prominent target, with more than 158 million visits in November. Other sites like Gimy, Aniworld, and Faselhds also attract significant traffic.

The subpoenas target a total of 39 pirate streaming domains. ACE and the MPA hope that, through their requests for information, they can learn more about the identities and whereabouts of the operators.

Domain	Monthly Visits
Anitaku.bz	158 million
Gimy.ai	43 million
Aniworld.to	31 million
Faselhds.care	29 million
Animeunity.to	20 million

This is not the first time that some of these sites have been targeted by ACE. An older Anitaku domain was listed in a subpoena a few months ago. While new uploads to the site were stalled recently , it remains online.

These subpoenas are standard practice by now. In several cases, site operators try to avoid being identified by using false information. However, history has also shown that these efforts can pay off.

In any case, the list of fresh targets shows what MPA and ACE’s priorities are. It’s clear that they are pushing full steam ahead with their enforcement efforts in the new year.

…

—

A full list of all targeted domains is available below. Some of the associated paperwork can be found here ( 1 , 2 , 3 ).

– vidsrc.to
– aniworld.to
– animeworld.so
– 1tamilblasters.dad
– streamblasters.pm
– chinaq.tv
– dramasq.tw
– dramasq.com
– politicslovers.com
– linkkf.net
– bearbit.co
– tugaflix.best
– cb01.forsale
– altadefinizione01.living
– altadefinizione.democrat
– katmoviehd.fi
– lordhd.mov
– kukaj.me
– faselhds.care
– xalaflix.eu
– gimy.ai
– anitaku.bz
– gogoanime3.cc
– animeunity.to
– hippopotame.site
– kukaj.to
– megacloud.tube
– hanatyury.online
– tv70.icu
– fortv.cc
– tvtap-apk.com
– tvtappro.net
– hdobox.tv
– hdboxstatic.com
– hdo.app
– cinemahdv3.com
– onstream.so
– getmenow.click
– castledownload.com

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2017, a new global anti-piracy coalition formed under the umbrella of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The Alliance for Entertainment and Creativity ( ACE ) bundled the powers and pockets of dozens of entertainment companies, and were joined by many more in the years that followed.

While skeptics may have dismissed the launch of yet another anti-piracy group, ACE was and is a grand success. The group has industry members and law enforcement contacts all over the globe, allowing it to pool intelligence and take action more effectively than ever before.

2024: A Transformative Year

The past year has been eventful for ACE on many fronts. The Alliance waved goodbye to its main boss, Jan Van Voorn, who left to work on a new IP-protection startup, IP-House. While his expertise will be missed, several key hires aim to fill the gap.

In June, Larissa Knapp was announced as the alliance’s new Global Chief of Content Protection. Knapp brings a wealth of experience from her 27 years at the FBI . As one of the highest-ranking officials, she managed over 2,000 personnel.

Other hires announced this year also bring much to the table, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Bostick, who also served as Deputy Director for the Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit. As the MPA’s new Head of Global Litigation, Bostick will also oversee international litigation related to ACE activity.

Bryan Willett, a former FBI agent, is another key addition to the team. He will serve as the MPA’s VP Content Protection Enforcement for the Americas region, where he will develop and oversee ACE’s internet enforcement strategy, aiming to further curb online piracy.

2024: Landmark Shutdowns

While expanding the team is crucial for the future of ACE, the Alliance’s core objective of shutting down piracy operations remains unchanged. And 2024 saw no shortage of accomplishments on that front.

Looking back, the shutdown of the Fmovies piracy ring , together with Vietnamese authorities, stands out. This impacted many popular pirate brands, including Aniwave, Soap2dayx2, Zoroxtv, Fboxz, Animesuge, Cinezone, and many others.

These sites, which were wiped out overnight, collectively received billions of visits per year. The Vietnamese authorities are prosecuting the alleged mastermind of the Fmovies operation, which may bring more details to the forefront in the coming year.

There were many other key shutdowns in the past year too. In January, ACE shut down a football piracy streaming operation, in May IPTV sellers had their domains seized , Animeflix was pushed offline in July , and in September Egypt’s largest pirate site ‘Laroza’ was toppled .

Toward the end of the year, popular anime site Animefenix shut down ‘voluntarily’ citing legal pressure. The same happened to Braflix a few weeks earlier. Neither site mentioned ACE in their farewell messages but since both domains now redirect to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page, it’s not hard to guess where the pressure came from.

The above is just a selection of ACE’s actions. In total, several hundreds of domains were either seized or shut down by the group over the past twelve months. And there are no signs that enforcement activity will slow down anytime soon.

2025: Fresh & Familiar Targets

Just before Christmas, MPA and ACE went back to court, with Larissa Knapp requesting several DMCA subpoenas at a California federal court. Through the subpoenas, ACE wants Cloudflare and the .to domain registry (Tonic) to share information related to numerous domain names.

“This would include the individuals’ names, physical addresses, IP addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, payment information, account updates and account history,” Knapp writes.

These targets are all related to pirate streaming sites, services, or apps, some with dozens of millions of monthly visits. Anime site Anitaku is the most prominent target, with more than 158 million visits in November. Other sites like Gimy, Aniworld, and Faselhds also attract significant traffic.

The subpoenas target a total of 39 pirate streaming domains. ACE and the MPA hope that, through their requests for information, they can learn more about the identities and whereabouts of the operators.

Domain	Monthly Visits
Anitaku.bz	158 million
Gimy.ai	43 million
Aniworld.to	31 million
Faselhds.care	29 million
Animeunity.to	20 million

This is not the first time that some of these sites have been targeted by ACE. An older Anitaku domain was listed in a subpoena a few months ago. While new uploads to the site were stalled recently , it remains online.

These subpoenas are standard practice by now. In several cases, site operators try to avoid being identified by using false information. However, history has also shown that these efforts can pay off.

In any case, the list of fresh targets shows what MPA and ACE’s priorities are. It’s clear that they are pushing full steam ahead with their enforcement efforts in the new year.

…

—

A full list of all targeted domains is available below. Some of the associated paperwork can be found here ( 1 , 2 , 3 ).

– vidsrc.to
– aniworld.to
– animeworld.so
– 1tamilblasters.dad
– streamblasters.pm
– chinaq.tv
– dramasq.tw
– dramasq.com
– politicslovers.com
– linkkf.net
– bearbit.co
– tugaflix.best
– cb01.forsale
– altadefinizione01.living
– altadefinizione.democrat
– katmoviehd.fi
– lordhd.mov
– kukaj.me
– faselhds.care
– xalaflix.eu
– gimy.ai
– anitaku.bz
– gogoanime3.cc
– animeunity.to
– hippopotame.site
– kukaj.to
– megacloud.tube
– hanatyury.online
– tv70.icu
– fortv.cc
– tvtap-apk.com
– tvtappro.net
– hdobox.tv
– hdboxstatic.com
– hdo.app
– cinemahdv3.com
– onstream.so
– getmenow.click
– castledownload.com

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2017, a new global anti-piracy coalition formed under the umbrella of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The Alliance for Entertainment and Creativity ( ACE ) bundled the powers and pockets of dozens of entertainment companies, and were joined by many more in the years that followed.

While skeptics may have dismissed the launch of yet another anti-piracy group, ACE was and is a grand success. The group has industry members and law enforcement contacts all over the globe, allowing it to pool intelligence and take action more effectively than ever before.

2024: A Transformative Year

The past year has been eventful for ACE on many fronts. The Alliance waved goodbye to its main boss, Jan Van Voorn, who left to work on a new IP-protection startup, IP-House. While his expertise will be missed, several key hires aim to fill the gap.

In June, Larissa Knapp was announced as the alliance’s new Global Chief of Content Protection. Knapp brings a wealth of experience from her 27 years at the FBI . As one of the highest-ranking officials, she managed over 2,000 personnel.

Other hires announced this year also bring much to the table, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Bostick, who also served as Deputy Director for the Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit. As the MPA’s new Head of Global Litigation, Bostick will also oversee international litigation related to ACE activity.

Bryan Willett, a former FBI agent, is another key addition to the team. He will serve as the MPA’s VP Content Protection Enforcement for the Americas region, where he will develop and oversee ACE’s internet enforcement strategy, aiming to further curb online piracy.

2024: Landmark Shutdowns

While expanding the team is crucial for the future of ACE, the Alliance’s core objective of shutting down piracy operations remains unchanged. And 2024 saw no shortage of accomplishments on that front.

Looking back, the shutdown of the Fmovies piracy ring , together with Vietnamese authorities, stands out. This impacted many popular pirate brands, including Aniwave, Soap2dayx2, Zoroxtv, Fboxz, Animesuge, Cinezone, and many others.

These sites, which were wiped out overnight, collectively received billions of visits per year. The Vietnamese authorities are prosecuting the alleged mastermind of the Fmovies operation, which may bring more details to the forefront in the coming year.

There were many other key shutdowns in the past year too. In January, ACE shut down a football piracy streaming operation, in May IPTV sellers had their domains seized , Animeflix was pushed offline in July , and in September Egypt’s largest pirate site ‘Laroza’ was toppled .

Toward the end of the year, popular anime site Animefenix shut down ‘voluntarily’ citing legal pressure. The same happened to Braflix a few weeks earlier. Neither site mentioned ACE in their farewell messages but since both domains now redirect to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page, it’s not hard to guess where the pressure came from.

The above is just a selection of ACE’s actions. In total, several hundreds of domains were either seized or shut down by the group over the past twelve months. And there are no signs that enforcement activity will slow down anytime soon.

2025: Fresh & Familiar Targets

Just before Christmas, MPA and ACE went back to court, with Larissa Knapp requesting several DMCA subpoenas at a California federal court. Through the subpoenas, ACE wants Cloudflare and the .to domain registry (Tonic) to share information related to numerous domain names.

“This would include the individuals’ names, physical addresses, IP addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, payment information, account updates and account history,” Knapp writes.

These targets are all related to pirate streaming sites, services, or apps, some with dozens of millions of monthly visits. Anime site Anitaku is the most prominent target, with more than 158 million visits in November. Other sites like Gimy, Aniworld, and Faselhds also attract significant traffic.

The subpoenas target a total of 39 pirate streaming domains. ACE and the MPA hope that, through their requests for information, they can learn more about the identities and whereabouts of the operators.

Domain	Monthly Visits
Anitaku.bz	158 million
Gimy.ai	43 million
Aniworld.to	31 million
Faselhds.care	29 million
Animeunity.to	20 million

This is not the first time that some of these sites have been targeted by ACE. An older Anitaku domain was listed in a subpoena a few months ago. While new uploads to the site were stalled recently , it remains online.

These subpoenas are standard practice by now. In several cases, site operators try to avoid being identified by using false information. However, history has also shown that these efforts can pay off.

In any case, the list of fresh targets shows what MPA and ACE’s priorities are. It’s clear that they are pushing full steam ahead with their enforcement efforts in the new year.

…

—

A full list of all targeted domains is available below. Some of the associated paperwork can be found here ( 1 , 2 , 3 ).

– vidsrc.to
– aniworld.to
– animeworld.so
– 1tamilblasters.dad
– streamblasters.pm
– chinaq.tv
– dramasq.tw
– dramasq.com
– politicslovers.com
– linkkf.net
– bearbit.co
– tugaflix.best
– cb01.forsale
– altadefinizione01.living
– altadefinizione.democrat
– katmoviehd.fi
– lordhd.mov
– kukaj.me
– faselhds.care
– xalaflix.eu
– gimy.ai
– anitaku.bz
– gogoanime3.cc
– animeunity.to
– hippopotame.site
– kukaj.to
– megacloud.tube
– hanatyury.online
– tv70.icu
– fortv.cc
– tvtap-apk.com
– tvtappro.net
– hdobox.tv
– hdboxstatic.com
– hdo.app
– cinemahdv3.com
– onstream.so
– getmenow.click
– castledownload.com

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Online piracy is a constant headache for copyright holders; one that’s particularly hard to beat.

Because those who run pirate sites often ignore takedown requests, copyright holders began targeting search engines and other online platforms that inadvertently help users to find pirated content.

Typically, copyright holders outsource this work to third-party companies that scan the web for links to pirated material. These companies then contact search engines, like Google, to request their removal.

Google has become a primary target for these requests, having recently processed its 10 billionth URL removal request.

Link-Busters: The Takedown Champion of 2024

These removal requests are not new. The process has been going on for well over a decade, fueled by reports from thousands of rightsholders. This year, however, one company stood out far beyond the rest in a way we’ve never witnessed before.

A few days ago, Link-Busters flagged its two billionth pirate URL to Google.

This comes less than half a year after it reached the one billion milestone, and currently it’s sending takedowns for more than 250 million URLs per month.

At this rate, it is no surprise that Link-Busters is the most prolific takedown sender at Google. In fact, it’s good for well over half of all takedown requests the search engine received since this summer. That’s something we’ve never seen before.

Publishers Fight Piracy

Link-Busters’ record-breaking numbers reveal that its notices are almost exclusively sent on behalf of publishing companies. The rise of shadow libraries, combined with the threat of AI scraping, has made these companies very active on the anti-piracy front.

Websites such as Z-Library and Anna’s Archive allow the public to download free books. These books can also be used for AI training. To prevent this, publishers try to make these sites unfindable in search results.

Looking at Link-Busters’ most-targeted domains, we see three Anna’s Archive domains on top, followed by a series of localized Z-Library domains. These six domains are already good for over 340 million reported URLs.

The table also shows the top rightsholders working with the anti-piracy company. These are all publishing companies, with Penguin Random House and HarperCollins clearly standing out, with a billion takedowns combined. Other popular request senders include Taylor & Francis, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette.

‘Better Than All The Rest’

It’s clear that Link-Busters is more ‘active’ than most competing takedown outfits, but this conclusion deserves some nuance. For one, many of the reported domains are mirrors, which show the same pirated books and articles duplicated across different URLs.

Additionally, shadow libraries generally have a larger amount of content indexed than pirate sites specializing in video content. That’s simply because there are more titles available.

However, various online testimonials suggest that publishing companies are quite satisfied with Link-Busters’ service.

“Benchmarked against the competition, Link-Busters were better at finding infringements, responded faster and did not suffer from ‘false positives’,” Penguin Random House notes.

Taylor & Francis, meanwhile, notices that Link-Busters helped to process “at least 400% more removals than previous years.”

Shadow Libraries Expand

It’s clear that Link-Busters is making an impact and that many publishers are content. While the billions of takedowns prevented some people from ending up at pirate sites, it didn’t stop them from operating.

Despite pressure from a U.S. criminal prosecution, Z-Library remains online. The site has just announced that it will close the book on a rather successful year. With over 36 million user profiles and 250 million daily reading recommendations, it continues to serve a massive audience.

Interestingly, the site continues to grow its presence off the web as well. Z-Library closes the year with 876,477 users of its desktop application, which more than doubled in a year.

Anna’s Archive, meanwhile, continued to grow as well. After ending last year with 25 million indexed books and 99 million academic papers, it now has access to more than 36 million books and over 106 million papers.

All in all, it’s safe to say that Link-Busters has a lot more link busting to do in the new year. At the current rate, it will send a few billion DMCA takedown requests to Google in 2025.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Online piracy is a constant headache for copyright holders; one that’s particularly hard to beat.

Because those who run pirate sites often ignore takedown requests, copyright holders began targeting search engines and other online platforms that inadvertently help users to find pirated content.

Typically, copyright holders outsource this work to third-party companies that scan the web for links to pirated material. These companies then contact search engines, like Google, to request their removal.

Google has become a primary target for these requests, having recently processed its 10 billionth URL removal request.

Link-Busters: The Takedown Champion of 2024

These removal requests are not new. The process has been going on for well over a decade, fueled by reports from thousands of rightsholders. This year, however, one company stood out far beyond the rest in a way we’ve never witnessed before.

A few days ago, Link-Busters flagged its two billionth pirate URL to Google.

This comes less than half a year after it reached the one billion milestone, and currently it’s sending takedowns for more than 250 million URLs per month.

At this rate, it is no surprise that Link-Busters is the most prolific takedown sender at Google. In fact, it’s good for well over half of all takedown requests the search engine received since this summer. That’s something we’ve never seen before.

Publishers Fight Piracy

Link-Busters’ record-breaking numbers reveal that its notices are almost exclusively sent on behalf of publishing companies. The rise of shadow libraries, combined with the threat of AI scraping, has made these companies very active on the anti-piracy front.

Websites such as Z-Library and Anna’s Archive allow the public to download free books. These books can also be used for AI training. To prevent this, publishers try to make these sites unfindable in search results.

Looking at Link-Busters’ most-targeted domains, we see three Anna’s Archive domains on top, followed by a series of localized Z-Library domains. These six domains are already good for over 340 million reported URLs.

The table also shows the top rightsholders working with the anti-piracy company. These are all publishing companies, with Penguin Random House and HarperCollins clearly standing out, with a billion takedowns combined. Other popular request senders include Taylor & Francis, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette.

‘Better Than All The Rest’

It’s clear that Link-Busters is more ‘active’ than most competing takedown outfits, but this conclusion deserves some nuance. For one, many of the reported domains are mirrors, which show the same pirated books and articles duplicated across different URLs.

Additionally, shadow libraries generally have a larger amount of content indexed than pirate sites specializing in video content. That’s simply because there are more titles available.

However, various online testimonials suggest that publishing companies are quite satisfied with Link-Busters’ service.

“Benchmarked against the competition, Link-Busters were better at finding infringements, responded faster and did not suffer from ‘false positives’,” Penguin Random House notes.

Taylor & Francis, meanwhile, notices that Link-Busters helped to process “at least 400% more removals than previous years.”

Shadow Libraries Expand

It’s clear that Link-Busters is making an impact and that many publishers are content. While the billions of takedowns prevented some people from ending up at pirate sites, it didn’t stop them from operating.

Despite pressure from a U.S. criminal prosecution, Z-Library remains online. The site has just announced that it will close the book on a rather successful year. With over 36 million user profiles and 250 million daily reading recommendations, it continues to serve a massive audience.

Interestingly, the site continues to grow its presence off the web as well. Z-Library closes the year with 876,477 users of its desktop application, which more than doubled in a year.

Anna’s Archive, meanwhile, continued to grow as well. After ending last year with 25 million indexed books and 99 million academic papers, it now has access to more than 36 million books and over 106 million papers.

All in all, it’s safe to say that Link-Busters has a lot more link busting to do in the new year. At the current rate, it will send a few billion DMCA takedown requests to Google in 2025.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Online piracy is a constant headache for copyright holders; one that’s particularly hard to beat.

Because those who run pirate sites often ignore takedown requests, copyright holders began targeting search engines and other online platforms that inadvertently help users to find pirated content.

Typically, copyright holders outsource this work to third-party companies that scan the web for links to pirated material. These companies then contact search engines, like Google, to request their removal.

Google has become a primary target for these requests, having recently processed its 10 billionth URL removal request.

Link-Busters: The Takedown Champion of 2024

These removal requests are not new. The process has been going on for well over a decade, fueled by reports from thousands of rightsholders. This year, however, one company stood out far beyond the rest in a way we’ve never witnessed before.

A few days ago, Link-Busters flagged its two billionth pirate URL to Google.

This comes less than half a year after it reached the one billion milestone, and currently it’s sending takedowns for more than 250 million URLs per month.

At this rate, it is no surprise that Link-Busters is the most prolific takedown sender at Google. In fact, it’s good for well over half of all takedown requests the search engine received since this summer. That’s something we’ve never seen before.

Publishers Fight Piracy

Link-Busters’ record-breaking numbers reveal that its notices are almost exclusively sent on behalf of publishing companies. The rise of shadow libraries, combined with the threat of AI scraping, has made these companies very active on the anti-piracy front.

Websites such as Z-Library and Anna’s Archive allow the public to download free books. These books can also be used for AI training. To prevent this, publishers try to make these sites unfindable in search results.

Looking at Link-Busters’ most-targeted domains, we see three Anna’s Archive domains on top, followed by a series of localized Z-Library domains. These six domains are already good for over 340 million reported URLs.

The table also shows the top rightsholders working with the anti-piracy company. These are all publishing companies, with Penguin Random House and HarperCollins clearly standing out, with a billion takedowns combined. Other popular request senders include Taylor & Francis, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette.

‘Better Than All The Rest’

It’s clear that Link-Busters is more ‘active’ than most competing takedown outfits, but this conclusion deserves some nuance. For one, many of the reported domains are mirrors, which show the same pirated books and articles duplicated across different URLs.

Additionally, shadow libraries generally have a larger amount of content indexed than pirate sites specializing in video content. That’s simply because there are more titles available.

However, various online testimonials suggest that publishing companies are quite satisfied with Link-Busters’ service.

“Benchmarked against the competition, Link-Busters were better at finding infringements, responded faster and did not suffer from ‘false positives’,” Penguin Random House notes.

Taylor & Francis, meanwhile, notices that Link-Busters helped to process “at least 400% more removals than previous years.”

Shadow Libraries Expand

It’s clear that Link-Busters is making an impact and that many publishers are content. While the billions of takedowns prevented some people from ending up at pirate sites, it didn’t stop them from operating.

Despite pressure from a U.S. criminal prosecution, Z-Library remains online. The site has just announced that it will close the book on a rather successful year. With over 36 million user profiles and 250 million daily reading recommendations, it continues to serve a massive audience.

Interestingly, the site continues to grow its presence off the web as well. Z-Library closes the year with 876,477 users of its desktop application, which more than doubled in a year.

Anna’s Archive, meanwhile, continued to grow as well. After ending last year with 25 million indexed books and 99 million academic papers, it now has access to more than 36 million books and over 106 million papers.

All in all, it’s safe to say that Link-Busters has a lot more link busting to do in the new year. At the current rate, it will send a few billion DMCA takedown requests to Google in 2025.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.