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As the global anti-piracy coalition Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment keeps up the pressure on illegal streaming platforms everywhere, news of new victims and confirmation of their involvement in recent actions continues. They include the forced closure of CableKill and CKHosting, the voluntary closure of Anime Kaizoku, and the inexplicable disappearance of domains previously disclosed as investigation targets.
According to readily available information and data provided by the entertainment industries through various studies, online piracy is rampant and, in some areas, more prolific than at any time in history.
On a day-to-day basis, based on the news of pirate site closures, arrests, lawsuits, and various investigations, it could also be argued that the tide is turning and has been for some time. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, shifting back and forth, according to the ebb and flow of dozens of complex factors, subject to change at any time.
One constant is the enforcement work of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE). According to an interview published in Vietnam in late June, ACE identified 1,400 pirated sites and services in the United States in 2018. After five years of enforcement operations, with the assistance of the Department of Justice and US prosecutors, the number reported as still in existence today is only 36.
The overseas image of a few hundred torrent sites and thousands of streaming-related platforms presents an epic challenge that you may never win, but you won't give up either. Recent stocks in Vietnam and Latin America show mixed fortunes, but that's just part of a much bigger picture.
More domain acquisitions this week
the recent closing of a Cuevana3 variant In Peru, ACE (through the Motion Picture Association) will take over 22 domains that were good for more than 100 million views between March and May of this year. Some have already been delivered.
As previously reported by TF but not yet reported by ACE, the domains of Zoro.to and Goku.to are now under the control of MPA/ACE. On Friday, Zorotv.to and ZoroNetwork.ru merged those .to domains into MPA's DNS servers, presumably provided by the site's operator.
Considering the volume of similar domains still in use and now targeting Zoro.to replacement Aniwatch.to, the loss of a couple of addon domains is unlikely to make a dent in the traffic going to the anime piracy giant. That said, this battle isn't over yet and ACE/MPA won't give up until it is.
CableKill tried to kill Cable, ACE killed him
One domain that will not receive (or distribute) any more infringing traffic is CableKill.us. Founded about five years ago, CableKill offered tutorials that told people how to 'kill cable' by ditching their provider and using pirated apps instead.
โDrive giant corporations to the curb and control your own TV! How about being able to watch ANY movie or TV show whenever you want? How about watching ANY live sporting event regardless of your location? On top of all that little to ZERO monthly fees. Well, that's exactly what we do here at CableKill," the site advised.
With the benefit of hindsight, some of the earlier logos should have been avoided. sports streaming app Mobdro fell into a ball of flames in 2021Area51 was closed by ACE in 2020 and then ordered to pay $272k in damageand the people behind Gears TV had to pay millions and now they are in prison.
It's unclear exactly what crimes led ACE/MPA to take over the CableKill.us domain on Friday. The same is true for the affiliate domain CKhosting.org, which did business under the CK Servers brand and also under the control of MPA/ACE as of Friday.
Likely candidates include hosting many of the world's most popular free pirated applications, selling hack-ready set-top boxes, and promoting, selling or hosting premium IPTV services. Details aren't public, but even in isolation any of the above would have sufficed for ACE.
The public availability of physical and email addresses, linked directly to the operator of CableKill and CK Hosting, would have been the icing on the cake.
Anime Kaizoku leaves it early
Last week we reported on the DMCA subpoena details recently obtained by MPA/ACE in the United States. Among the targets were three anime sites; animedao.to, animet.site and animekaizoku.com.
While the first pair continues as usual, animekaizoku.com seems to have taken the existence of a subpoena as a sign to throw in the towel.
We are not in a position to verify that the communication we received was sent by one of the site's operators, but it is consistent with the fact that the site went offline this week. The message begins with a link to our report and continues with assurances that the site is gone forever.
โI just thought I would notify you that animekaizoku.com has been removed forever, including the data and code of the website has been erased. The domain will never be active again. We are totally out of the hacking side of things. You can visit the site and see for yourself,โ he says.
Domains mentioned in other DMCA subpoenas that have also recently been shut down include: tvzon.tv, moviehdapkdownload.com, megacamais.com, and filmisub.com.
