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?

  • 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.

  • sunzu2
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    727 days ago

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

  • @WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2027 days ago

    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.

  • @Etterra@lemmy.world
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    927 days ago

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

  • @9point6@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    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…

      • slazer2au
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        827 days ago

        From memory they are run out of countries that have very relaxed copyright laws, I think Vietnam is the one in the news recently

  • Bakkoda
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    226 days ago

    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.

  • Sabata
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    4727 days ago

    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.

  • @LouNeko@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    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…

  • Chainweasel
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    26 days ago

    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.