Photo Credit: Bing Copilot
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment says it worked with officials in Vietnam to shut down Fmovies—described as “the largest pirate streaming operation in the world.”
The anti-piracy coalition shut down other off-shoot sites including bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer, and aniwave in addition to the Fmovies operation. According to ACE, the entire operation attracted 6.7 million visits between January 2023 and June 2024. Two Vietnamese men were arrested by Hanoi police in connection with the Fmovies shutdown, though they have not been charged.
“The takedown of Fmovies is a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe,” adds Charles Rivkin, Chairman & CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Chairman of ACE. “With the leadership of ACE and the partnership of the Ministry of Public Security and the Hanoi Municipal Police, we are countering criminal activity, defending the safety of audiences, reducing risks posed to tens of millions of consumers, and protecting the rights and livelihoods of creators.”
Fmovies launched in 2016 and drew nearly 374 million monthly visits to the huge catalog of pirated videos hosted by the syndicate. Vidsrc.to, a notorious video hosting provider operated by the same suspects, was also taken down. The result is hundreds of people flooding the Fmovies subreddit seeking alternatives—showcasing the impact these takedowns have in reducing piracy. The only problem is where one piracy head is removed, two more pop up to take its place.
At its peak in 2023, Fmovies was the 280th most popular website across all categories of websites globally. It was the 11th most popular website in the TV & Movies Streaming category, according to data analytics company SimilarWeb. Fmovies was listed on the USTR ‘notorious markets’ list between 2017 and 2023—making shutting down this operation a huge accomplishment for those involved.
“We commend the Hanoi Police for working with ACE to shut down the world’s largest piracy ring and sending a powerful deterrent message in this milestone case,” adds Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer for the MPA.
“The takedown of Fmovies is a testament to the power of collaboration in protecting the intellectual property rights of creators around the world. We look forward to ongoing joint efforts with Vietnamese authorities, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Justice International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) program to bring the criminal operators to justice.”
