While nothing stands in the way of a single rights holder taking over one or more pirate sites, there has been a noticeable shift towards pooling resources in recent years.
For members of the MPA's Hollywood studio, teaming up against piracy is nothing new, but for other members of the highly successful Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, collaborating with rival companies is likely a relatively new concept. . In light of the growing threat posed by online piracy and few better options, it's clearly one they're happy to explore.
In March, South Korean broadcasters including KBS, MBC and JTBC, the Korea Film & Video Copyright Association (film producers and distributors), as well as streaming platforms TVING and Wavve, announced the formation of a similar anti-piracy coalition dedicated to protecting local content. Your connections to ACE are likely to prove invaluable.
Noonoo TV in the spotlight
Branded as the Video Copyright Protection Council (์ดํ ์๋ณดํ), the coalition's immediate target was Noonoo TV, a highly successful pirate streaming site that receives tens of millions of views from Koreans each month. In theory at least, an ISP blocking program should have prevented that from happening, but Noonoo's rollout of dozens of new domains meant the campaign couldn't keep up.
Shockingly, Noonoo's hit circumvention program was eventually shut down on its own, along with the site itself, just a few weeks later. In an April announcement, the site's operator said the "outrageous" cost of bandwidth and "pressure on the site from all directions" had culminated in the decision to shut down Noonoo. Around April 14, Noonoo said good night for the last time and gave one last piece of advice before turning out the lights.
โBeware of phishing sitesโฆโ
Without any doubt that any remaining value in the Noonoo brand would be immediately extracted by opportunists, we began monitoring new domain registrations when the site went down. These included noonoo.app, noonootv.live, noonoo2023.xyz, and noonootorrent.com in April, a bunch that ended up in .click in May, and then a couple more in early June: noonoo.art and noonoo.lol.
Initially, only one of these domains showed signs of taking over, but then noonoo.lol stepped on the gas and took the lead.
The site was introduced as 'Noonoo TV Season2' on June 12. It had the same layout, probably the same or similar content library, but most importantly, the same set of ads that appeared on the original site. (screenshot) featuring the exact same gaming companies.
After just four days online, the site came under a full-scale DDOS attack. That was reportedly handled within 30 minutes, but the site still wanted to clear something up.
โNoonoo TV Season 2 has no connection to the original Noonoo TV,โ the site announced. A business address in the footer of the site claimed that a company called Digisn Mowanda was now running the site from an office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is unknown if anyone plans to make a personal visit anytime soon, but it would be best to call first, just in case.
The Korean government is not thrilled by the resurrection
in a advertisement Dated June 18, the Ministry of Science and ICT said the appearance of 'Season 2' warranted a "strong response".
โAs the damage caused to the domestic online video service (OTT) industry and others due to the [original] The illegal free streaming site 'Noonoo Tv' grew by the day, last year the Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the national online video service industry, ISPs and the Radio Association of Korea (RAPA), persistently blocked the illegal service by shortening the frequency; such as once a week, twice a week, and once a day, leading up to the termination of Noonoo TV's service in April," the statement read.
"The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to actively respond to illegal online video service (OTT) distribution sites such as 'Noonoo TV Season 2' based on its experience and capabilities to block access to Noonoo TV."
The Ministry says it has already requested the Korea Communications Commission to expedite its decision on the "illegality and copyright infringement of Noonoo TV Season 2" and once it is received, enhanced blocking measures will be implemented to interrupt service.
"During the answer [to the original site]we were able to block access once a day, but this time we will simplify the response system so that we can block several times a day,โ the Ministry says.
Piracy vs. Artificial intelligence
Along with pledging to work closely with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Communications Commission and the National Security Agency to protect 'K' content from illegal distribution, the Ministry of Science says it is the right time to improve the manual work done. by humans with automated systems better suited for the job.
"Since the detection and response to illegal sites currently focuses on manual work based on human resources, to overcome this limitation, we plan to develop technology that can automatically detect and verify new versions and substitute sites," the ministry said.
โOnline video service (OTT) content is a precious asset created with the blood and sweat of many people. It is a growth engine that will be responsible for the future of our country, so it is very important that mature citizens refrain from using these illegal sites.โ
Season 2 ends prematurely
Calls for citizens to act responsibly are not unusual in South Korea, and in the right circumstances, they can also be very effective. However, this time a national boycott of 'Season 2' will not be necessary after the following announcement (translated from the original).
About him Season 2 Telegram Channelthe closure has yet to be mentioned.
