6mo ago

Are illegal streaming sites really getting shut down a lot lately or has it always been like this?

And if yes, what are the implications? Are times changing for piracy in this regard?

I'm asking since I've been noticing headlines every odd day or so about different streaming sites getting shut down. I don't know if this is because people are sharing these types of news more now, or if it's because in fact the tides are turning significantly and now companies and governments have more control and power over the web.

Is it just me getting fear mongered with these headlines or is it for real? Any veteran pirates out there that can share some thoughts?

31 comments

It's more or less always been like this.
p2p services like Napster were getting shut down and replaced with limewire, then limewire was shut down and replaced with FrostWire.
The Pirate Bay has been shut down at least half a dozen times, demonoid was shut down 6 years ago, Grooveshark was once an ad free music streaming service but tried to go legit at some point to save themselves.
Every few years the movie and record industries get a burr up their ass and go for the piracy and streaming websites. But these websites have always been like a Hydra and when one of them is killed, several more eventually pop up to take their place.
- Wow I completely forgot about Grooveshark. I used to use it a lot
  
  Hedged my bets to the wrong horse...
- Like weeds, they can’t stop em from coming back, but they can keep them small.

Nothing new, they just happened to take down a few big names recently and they want to brag about it. 1 goes down 2 more take its place. The only hard part is finding a replacement that's cozy enough to bookmark.
- Hail Hydra
- Google Yarr list. never ending

TBF those streaming sites are usually the lowest common denominator, run by people who are just trying to make as much ad money as they can before they get caught or shut down.
When one shuts down, another inevitably pops up—it's been this way for a couple of decades. No site ever lasts longer than a couple of years tops, it's just a way too obvious way of doing things to not get caught eventually
Generally it's best to go with a download based approach anyway (or one of the streaming approaches that doesn't involve a web browser), given the quantity of shitty ads and tracking those sites have on them.
- I wonder how profitable they actually are. The ad money must be reasonably good to justify the risk.
  Though I suppose the risk is exactly why these sites are run from the countries they typically are...
  
  From memory they are run out of countries that have very relaxed copyright laws, I think Vietnam is the one in the news recently

I couldn't be bothered to DL anything anymore so I just browse the mega list whenever my fav one bows out.
https://rentry.co/megathread-movies-and-tv
- Thanks for the list. I've been using this one: https://www.bestfreestreaming.org/
  
  Thanks to both of you for the resources :)

Every once in a while, businesses make an anti-piracy push to scare off potential users and make a statement. So far, these efforts have not eliminated piracy completely. This is one of those moments.

They've always sought them out, but now the Department of Homeland Security is doing corporate bidding.
- Always has been
  
  and theyre terrible at getting results

There's always churn and turnover, I've been part of communities that lost up to 3 of the top 5 sites for something etc. and the community bounces back in a couple of months. Streaming sites aren't horrifically difficult to set up so they will often reappear shortly with similar interface.

It's pretty standard issue whack-a-mole. They usually pop back up with a slightly different URL and/or domain extension.

Streaming sites are usually just the front-end of a content host. The are a number of different domains that all use the same hosts. Banning the streaming sites does absolutely nothing to prevent piracy. Streaming sites rarely host their own content. An example would be the recently banned NSFW streaming domain "Goodporn(dot)to" and it's subsidiaries, which actually did host their own content. Given that they were arguably the most complete library of illegaly hosted copyrighted western pornography, it kind if made sense to prosecute them specifically.
As long as the actually content provider isn't prosecuted the streaming sites won't disappear. Finding a streaming site is essentially as simple as entering 123movies/series/anime/etc. into a search engine and clicking on the first link. The actual content providers like DoodStream, UpCloud, StreamSB, etc. usually operate out of countries where the copyright holder has no jurisdictions.
Edit: pretty sure I can't directly link NSFW sites, even if the domain doesn't exist anymore...
- Google yarrr list, it's a fucking hydra. will never go away.

Always been like this

It is a media blitz since peasants are reskilling due to streaming fragmentation

It's kind of both. There's more sites to get shut down so naturally more are getting hit. I'd be willing to bet that the number of sites popping up daily outpaces the shutdown amount by a good number too.

I use some from the play store that have been removed from there. But still have their apps

Piracy is changing in a different way than expected. Before, viruses were mostly of the type that do damage for fun or steal some game accounts. But all that was left behind.
Nowadays, it's all about stealing your cryptocurrency or making your hardware mine cryptocurrency, organized crime ransomware and government agencies hijacking your shit to spy on its own citizens or rival countries.
With the shift towards a higher digital presence, so do the dangers grow exponentially.
- That is not what is happening here. They aren’t shutting these sites down to keep us safe, they are shutting them down to enforce protection of capital.
  
  Yes, my answer diverged from the topic. I was caught up in a chain of thought of my own when I posted and didn't realize it.
- They've always been for-profit viruses. There's an entire underground market where you get paid X dollars every time you get someone to install said virus. The people adding viruses to pirate sites and torrent downloads have always done it for profit, not fun. Of course there may be one or two black hats out there just trying to fuck shit up, but the majority of it has always been about money.

31 comments