Rightsholders Brand Vietnam an Online Piracy Haven & Demand Action * TorrentFreak

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The IIPA, which represents the MPA, RIAA and other entertainment industry groups, views Vietnam as a haven for online piracy. The Southeast Asian country is considered the world's leading exporter of piracy services, "home" to popular brands such as Fmovies, AniWave, 123movies and 2embed. To address this problem, the country should impose criminal sentences, says the IIPA.

In recent years, copyright holders have paid a lot of attention to a growing number of large piracy services with connections to Vietnam.

Representatives of the Cinematographic Association (AMP) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), he even traveled to the Asian country to discuss the problem with local authorities.

The problematic sites and services, including Fmovies, AniWave, 123movies, BestBuyIPTV, 2embed and Y2mate, have many millions of monthly users worldwide. Several attempts have been made to alert authorities to these "criminal" platforms, but criminal convictions have proven elusive to date.

IIPA points to Vietnam as a haven for piracy

To strengthen its call to action, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) urges the US Trade Representative (USTR) to attend. The IIPA represents the interests of prominent rights holder groups, including the MPA, RIAA and ESA, and highlights the Vietnam issue in its recent "Special 301"Recommendation.

"Vietnam has become a leading global exporter of piracy services and Vietnamese operators have partnered with some of the most widespread piracy websites in the world, causing significant damage to both local and international markets," IIPA writes. .

It is no secret that many large pirate sites and services have ties to Vietnam and local authorities are aware of at least some of them. While this has led to some coercive measures, the first criminal conviction related to piracy has yet to be handed down.

A high-profile conviction would reassure rights holders and other companies considering investing in the country, the IIPA reasons, while noting that the country is currently seen as a “piracy paradise.”

"The Government of Vietnam should recognize that achieving the 'first' criminal copyright conviction in the country would provide significant reassurance to companies considering investing in local content and would provide rights holders with better understanding and certainty regarding to the required criminal process," says the IIPA. .

"The criminal law enforcement path available against these sites and their operators remains excessively long and lacks transparency."

music pirates

The IIPA highlights several specific challenges to piracy, which are not limited to video entertainment. Recent Survey data published by music industry group IFPI showed that approximately two-thirds (66%) of Vietnamese respondents aged 16 to 44 pirate music regularly. That's well above the world average.

A popular option for obtaining copyrighted music is through YouTube ripping platforms such as Y2Mate, which reportedly has links to Vietnam. The place blocked visitors of the US and the UK in 2021, but that decision was recently reversed.

"Importantly, Y2Mate is part of a network of seven globally popular stream ripping sites believed to operate from Vietnam," the IFPI writes.

“Although the operator of Y2mate.com voluntarily geo-blocked access from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the site is once again accessible from these countries, and while the site was geo-blocked, the operator established an alternative sequence extraction. sites.”

Persistent Movie and TV Pirates

Y2mate is not the only site that persists with its piracy activities. There is a pattern of Vietnamese sites and services seemingly bowing to legal pressure, only to reappear with a twist.

As previously reported here, ACE previously tracked down the operators of 2embed and zoro.to, who appeared to cooperate after receiving a visit. However, those actions had no lasting effect.

Zoro.to was reported to be 'acquired' by a new team, which kept the site online under the aniwatch brand. Similarly, ' by 2embedclose' had little effect since a new 2embed quickly replaced itpresumably with ties to the old team.

Zoro -> Aniwatch

In its recommendation to the USTR, the IIPA highlights both events as key examples of the enforcement challenges faced by rights holders in Vietnam.

“Both 2embed and zoro.to were being operated by the same network of identified operators. In a Knock-and-Talk operation in July 2023 carried out by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the operators of these sites handed over administrative control of the primary and associated domains.

“However, within weeks, a new domain (aniwatch.to) replaced zoro.to and subsequently a new domain (2mbed.me) replaced 2embed.to. Criminal execution action by the [Ministry of Public Security] It is necessary to close such expansive piracy networks,” adds IIPA.

Criminal Law Enforcement Please

Legally, Vietnamese authorities have the power to take action against these piracy magnates. In 2018, copyright infringement offenses were added to the country's Penal Code. However, practical challenges remain.

In 2021, there was some hope when Vietnamese police questioned the alleged founder and two employees of the notorious piracy site Phimmoi.net. However, no charges were filed as a result and local authorities eventually suspended the investigation.

More recently, ACE filed criminal complaints targeting Fmovies and BestBuyIPTV to Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security (MPS). So far, these cases are still "stuck" in processing, IIPA says, with little sign of progress.

“[T]"There continues to be a lack of transparency and clarity here, as the MPS continues to request additional evidence without explanation or reasoning, potentially using the opaque process as a pretext to delay the investigation or not initiate a process," IIPA writes.

It is clear that rights holders are increasingly frustrated with the situation. The IIPA suggests that a stronger enforcement framework should be a top priority by 2024.

“Establish a robust enforcement framework and ensure that law enforcement officials […]investigate and criminally prosecute piracy sites and services on a commercial scale, as well as bring administrative actions.”

The above is just a small selection of the IIPA's comments and suggestions for Vietnam, which go far beyond the need for criminal action.

The final conclusion is that Vietnam deserves to be included in the USTR “Priority Watch List” in the upcoming Special 301 Review.

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IIPA Special Report 301 of 2024 on Copyright Protection and Enforcement, including all references from Vietnam, is available here (pdf)