In recent years, Hollywood has paid a lot of attention to major pirate sites and services with connections to Vietnam.
On behalf of rights holders, MPA and ACE visited Vietnam last year to discuss piracy-related challenges with local authorities.
The focus on Vietnam resulted in some progress. Anti-piracy coalition ACE previously shut down popular video piracy library 2Embed after negotiations with its Hanoi-based operator. Anime Piracy Giant Zoro.to fell too, although that keep going under a new brand, supposedly with a new team of operators.
It's clear, however, that Vietnam has Hollywood's full attention. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is also aware of the challenges, as is clear in the most recent Special 301 Report.
"In particular, online piracy, including the use of illicit streaming devices and associated piracy applications to access unauthorized audiovisual content, remains a significant concern," the USTR wrote.
Vietnam blockade efforts
While some believe Vietnam's copyright enforcement arsenal is below average, the country has a weapon that the United States lacks. Site blocking is common and widespread in the South Asian country.
Vietnamese authorities are actively ordering site blocking measures of varying degrees. Perhaps best known is the government's crackdown on gambling sites, which are considered illegal in the country.
However, more recently sites have also been blocked for copyright infringement. A few months ago we highlighted that 1,000 domains were blocked for this reason in just 12 months.
Interestingly, many of the biggest movie and TV show streaming sites escaped this first wave. Blockade efforts are primarily directed live sports streaming sites, while other categories were left intact. At least for the moment.
More blocking of pirate sites
Earlier this month, Vietnamese authorities, in "coordination" with ISPs, appear to have expanded their reach. There are reports that several torrent sites are now being blocked, which TorrentFreak confirmed with a local resident.
Names mentioned include anime site NYAA.si, torrent indexers TorrentGalaxy and 1337x, as well as game release site FitGirl-Repacks.
While results may vary between ISPs, our data suggests that a blocking notification is not always displayed. Sites simply become inaccessible, with some's DNS pointing to 127.0.0.1; Effectively unrouting the connection attempt.
There is no mention of these new lockdown efforts in the local media that we know of. However, several people discuss these and other issues on the Vietnamese VOZ forum.
โCan anyone download on Fitgirl without having to activate the VPN? Even when I get the 1337x link, it won't let me download it, it's completely blocked.โ a user writesand others confirm the problem.
In other similar threads blocking problems are discussed by VOZ users, all fairly recently.
Recognized threat
For more information, we contacted Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications and asked for more details about this apparent new wave of blocking. Unfortunately, however, we received no response.
Jan van Voorn, head of anti-piracy group ACE, has experience in Vietnam and tells us that authorities have blocked quite a few sites in recent months.
Van Voorn further notes that ISPs have a commercial interest in blocking pirate sites and calls on the government to address local piracy syndicates.
โContent is becoming an important business model for major ISPs in Vietnam. From our numerous meetings with them, it is clear that they recognize the need to protect that content,โ Van Voorn tells us.
"It is hoped that the Vietnamese government will also recognize the need to protect both local and international content rather than allowing Vietnamese piracy syndicates to enrich themselves from this illegal act."
These unions would include Fmovies, according to ACE definitions. Interestingly, however, that popular movie streaming site is not blocked by Vietnamese ISPs, according to our source.
Transparency and overlocking
Unfortunately, there is not much transparency surrounding current pirate site blocking efforts in Vietnam. This makes it difficult to get confirmation or provide an overview of all the sites that are blocked.
The lack of transparency also makes it difficult for the general public to know what is happening. If a site is inaccessible, without a blocking notice, whether it is downtime, technical issues, or an ISP block remains a guess. Needless to say, this also makes it more difficult to detect incidents of excessive blocking.
In the case of gambling-related blocks, the block is easier to detect. Visitors will see a banner, like the one below, that includes the following warning.
โEngaging in gambling is a violation of the law. [โฆ] The police will save this access log for collection and processing! All information is sent to the corresponding criminal organization.โ
This is a stark warning that should make potential players reconsider their options. And not just the players. Zooming in on the banner above shows that visitors to the popular Frequently asked questions about the game The website is also blocked.
We'd like to say that targeting GameFAQs can be classified as excessive blocking, but of course, that's a gamble.
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flag image credit.
