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Closure of the world’s largest film piracy network in Vietnam marks victory for intellectual property rights
Leading Hollywood studios participated in this operation, which was led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and carried out in coordination with Hanoi police officials.
A coalition of international anti-piracy advocates has successfully taken down the vast illegal streaming network, Fmovies, which is situated in Vietnam. This is a big step forward for the film industry and intellectual property rights.
Leading Hollywood studios participated in this operation, which was led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and carried out in coordination with Hanoi police officials.
According to various reports, the initiative resulted not only in the cessation of Fmovies but also in the shutdown of its associated video hosting service, Vidsrc.to, which was operated by the same individuals. Two Vietnamese men have been detained in relation to this operation, although formal charges have yet to be filed, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The chairman of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and ACE, Charles Rivkin, lauded the closure of Fmovies as a pivotal achievement for the global creative industry. He remarked as quoted by Dunya News, “This is a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe.” Rivkin further noted, “We took down the mothership here… Today, we go after piracy at its root rather than merely addressing the symptoms.” ACE’s members include major players in the entertainment sector such as Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon, and Walt Disney Studios.
Additionally, a senior executive at the MPA, Larissa Knapp, underscored the significance of this action as a deterrent to future piracy and reaffirmed the coalition’s intent to work closely with authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable. She stated, “We look forward to ongoing joint efforts with Vietnamese authorities, US Homeland Security Investigations, and the US Department of Justice International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) programme to bring the criminal operators to justice.”
The dismantling of Fmovies is viewed as a formidable blow to piracy, with the network having amassed over 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024, according to data from SimilarWeb, establishing it as the largest pirate streaming network globally. At its height in 2023, Fmovies was ranked as the 11th most visited website in the category of television, movies, and streaming.
This operation marks a watershed moment in combating online piracy, signalling a robust commitment from the global entertainment community to uphold the rights of creators and intellectual property. The collaborative efforts of ACE and local law enforcement epitomise a proactive stance against illicit operations, promising a future where creative works are respected and protected.
