Piracy
Anti-piracy coalition takes down AnimePlay app with 5 million users
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) announced the shutdown of AnimePlay, a major anime streaming platform with over 5 million users. Backed by more than 50 major television networks and film studios, including Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Netflix, and Universal Pictures, ACE focuses on taking down illegal streaming services through civil litigation, […]
Spain orders NordVPN, ProtonVPN to block LaLiga piracy sites
A Spanish court has granted precautionary measures against NordVPN and ProtonVPN, ordering the two popular VPN providers to block 16 websites that facilitate piracy of football matches. The restrictions will apply to a dynamic list of IP addresses in Spain, and there will be no opportunity for appeals. The measures were taken ‘inaudita parte’, meaning that the […]
Operation Switch Off dismantles major pirate TV streaming services
The latest phase of the global law enforcement action resulted in seizing three industrial-scale illegal IPTV services. The operation, coordinated by Europol, Eurojust, and Interpol, was led by Italy’s District Prosecutor’s Office of Catania and Italian State Police, extending to 11 cities and 14 countries worldwide. The focus of the action in Italy is because […]
Fake ‘One Battle After Another’ torrent hides malware in subtitles
A fake torrent for Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘One Battle After Another’ hides malicious PowerShell malware loaders inside subtitle files that ultimately infect devices with the Agent Tesla RAT malware. The malicious torrent file was discovered by Bitdefender researchers while investigating a spike in detections related to the movie. One Battle After Another is a highly rated […]
MKVCinemas streaming piracy service with 142M visits shuts down
An anti-piracy coalition has dismantled one of India’s most popular streaming piracy services, which has provided free access to movies and TV shows to millions over the past two years. Backed by over 50 major television networks and film studios, including Disney, Warner Bros, Netflix, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures, the Alliance for Creativity […]
TV streaming piracy service with 26M yearly visits shut down
Photocall, a TV piracy streaming platform with over 26 million users annually, has ceased operations following a joint investigation by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and DAZN. The piracy service provided users with unauthorized access to 1,127 TV channels from 60 countries, including live sports content. In total, almost 30% of its visitors […]
American Archive of Public Broadcasting fixes bug exposing restricted media
A vulnerability in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting’s website allowed downloading of protected and private media for years, with the flaw quietly patched this month. GeekFeed was tipped about the flaw by a cybersecurity researcher who asked to remain anonymous, stating that the flaw has been exploited since at least 2021, even after the researcher […]
Man gets over 4 years in prison for selling unreleased movies
A Tennessee court has sentenced a Memphis man who worked for a DVD and Blu-ray manufacturing and distribution company to 57 months in prison for stealing and selling digital copies of unreleased movies. 37-year-old Steven R. Hale was charged in March with selling ripped DVD and Blu-ray discs of movies before their release. Prosecutors stated at the […]
Sports streaming piracy service with 123M yearly visits shut down
Calcio, a large piracy sports streaming platform with more than 120 million visits in the past year, was shut down following a collaborative effort by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and DAZN. This massive illegal streaming service received more than 123 million visits over the past 12 months across 134 domains, with over […]
Police disrupts Streameast, largest pirated sports streaming network
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and Egyptian authorities have shut down Streameast, the world’s largest illegal live sports streaming network, and arrested two people allegedly associated with the operation. Streameast, operational since 2018, was a free streaming service supported by advertisements, providing access to HD streams from licensed broadcasters. Streameast reportedly operates 80 […]