Fmovies had dozens and dozens of domains, and so that was really challenging, Rivkin said.
…The team completely uprooted a global piracy ring, versus removing a branch here and there.
You talk about piracy sometimes being whack-a-mole.
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Well, we took down the whole game here.
After its launch, a Philippine media conglomerate, ABS-CBN, sued Fmovies in federal court.
A federal judge in 2017 issued a $218,200 default judgment against a set of John Doe defendants.
The U.S. Trade Representative also had listed the site on its annual notorious markets list from 2017 to 2023.
Rivkin noted that before the Fmovies shutdown, the top five English language piracy sites were all in Vietnam.
Its a real pivotal moment for us, Rivkin said.
Other agencies involved in the shutdown include the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department.
Rivkin also said that there are signs that the scale of piracy has been reduced in North America.
This is a real turning point and we have them on the run.
