The world's largest movie piracy ring, Fmovies, has reportedly been shut down by an international coalition including major Hollywood studios working with police in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) said on Thursday it had worked with Hanoi police to shut down Vietnam-based Fmovies and related sites that authorities said constituted “the world's largest pirate streaming operation.” Report by The Hollywood Reporter.
The coalition reportedly includes Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon and Walt Disney Studios, adding that in addition to Fmovies, partner sites also include bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer and aniwave.
Hosting provider Vidsrc.to was also shut down as a result of the anti-piracy operation. Additionally, two Vietnamese men were arrested by Hanoi police in connection with Fmovies. They have not yet been charged.
ACE claims that illegal movie piracy rings attracted more than 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024 alone. ACE's international members also include BBC Studios, Canal Plus Group, Televisa, MBC Group and RTL.
Charles Rivkin, president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a Hollywood trade group, called the withdrawal “an incredible victory for cast, crew, writers, directors, studios and the creative community around the world.”
Rivkin's colleague, Larissa Knapp, executive vice president and chief content protection officer at the MPA, said the piracy measures sent a “strong deterrent message.”
“We look forward to continuing our work with Vietnamese authorities, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Justice's International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) Program to bring perpetrators to justice,” Knapp added.
Meanwhile, Reddit users have reportedly reacted to the closure of Fmovies by discussing alternative websites that stream pirated movies.
“Can someone please point me to a good site! I hate having to sit and watch YouTube all day every day. I was in the middle of watching Call the Midwife when it got taken down,” wrote one frustrated Reddit user.
“Last night and this morning we all woke up to the streaming apocalypse with our beloved site being taken down by the US government,” commented another. “To anyone who posted a link or listed a site name on this page, congratulations. It's your fault.”
Alana Mastangero is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her at Facebook And X is Follow,and Instagram.
