The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association (MPA) have achieved a significant milestone in their ongoing battle against digital piracy with the recent shutdown of the popular streaming site Fmovies. Originating from Hanoi, Vietnam, and launched in 2016, Fmovies had risen to considerable prominence, reaching 274th place globally and 11th in the TV, Movies & Streaming category according to SimilarWeb.
Fmovies had been repeatedly featured on the USTR’s “notorious markets” list from 2017 to 2023 due to its role in facilitating piracy. The joint effort between ACE, MPA, and the Hanoi Police culminated in the site’s closure, marking a notable win for the creative community. Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE, praised the takedown as a critical move to safeguard creators’ rights and protect audiences from the risks associated with pirated content.
Despite the shutdown, a new site using the Fmovies name has surfaced under a different domain. This new iteration, registered in 2014 and renewed in March of this year, features a rich catalog of content, though its connection to the original site remains unclear.
ACE has described the Fmovies network as “the largest pirate streaming operation in the world,” with associated sites including bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer, and aniwave. The recent takedown also extended to Vidsrc.to, a video hosting service linked to this piracy network. Collectively, these sites attracted an astonishing 374 million monthly visits, with over 6.7 billion visits recorded from January 2023 to June 2024.
The allure of piracy extends beyond cost benefits, with these platforms often providing a more extensive range of content compared to legal alternatives. As the streaming industry becomes increasingly competitive, with platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime raising subscription rates and introducing ads, the crackdown on piracy is expected to continue intensifying.
