Popular sites that were used by millions to watch movies, shows, and anime every day have shut down. The site owners seem to have had a change of heart, now encouraging users to pay for content.
A number of piracy sites have shut down. Fboxz.to, Aniwave.to, Anix.to, AnimeSuge, and Zoroxtv are some of the biggest names on the list.
TorrentFreak reported that this shutdown follows the closure of Fmovies, once the world’s most popular pirate streaming site, in mid-June. The site had over a billion visitors per year.
Fboxz.to informed its users that the site is shutting down. A message posted on the site notes that: “It’s time to say goodbye.”
“We’ve been providing links to movies and shows for a long time. Now it’s time to say goodbye. Thank you for being our friends and thanks for staying with us that long,” the notice reads.
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What’s strange is that almost all of the sites that shut down are now asking their users to pay for movies and consider legal options for watching content. This is ironic, given that these sites were known for making movies and shows available for free that were otherwise locked behind a paywall.
“PS: Please pay for the movies/shows, that’s what we should do to show our respect to people behind the movies/shows,” read the Fboxz.to notice.
Why these sites closed is still a mystery. One likely reason is that content owners might have stepped in with legal complaints or threats of lawsuits. There are also services out there that specialize in taking down pirated sites and content.
TorrentFreak pointed out that the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) could be behind it. They’ve reportedly been talking with the Vietnamese government—where many of these piracy sites are thought to be based—to take action.