Over the past two decades, online piracy has proven to be a massive headache for the entertainment industries.
Governments around the world have recognized this challenge and, where possible, lend a helping hand to identify and address the threats.
The European Commission, for example, compiles a biennial ‘Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List’, following the example set by the United States. Like its U.S. equivalent, the EU watchlist relies on input from copyright holders, which nominate problematic sites and services for inclusion.
New Threats
This week the Commission released its latest version of the Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List. The report provides a detailed overview of the piracy landscape including statistics from many studies that were previously published. In addition, it highlights what are seen as the most serious threats today.
Compared to the previous edition, there appears to be a stronger focus on game piracy. Several new additions are gaming-related, including the elusive repacker FitGirl and several NSW2U domain names. Both have been blocked by ISPs in several EU countries.
Other newcomers are the streaming repository Doodstream, sports streaming site Pirlo TV, hosting provider Virtual Systems, IPTV service GenIPTV and the pirate video library Vidsrc.
Njalla: Off-the-Shelf Piracy Service?
Another new target is Njalla, the privacy-focused domain registration intermediary founded by Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde. The service is operated by Saint Kitts and Nevis-based 1337 Services.
According to the EU report, Njalla appears to do more than simply registering domains for its customers. Allegedly, it allows people to launch a complete pirate site using the service.
“This off-the-shelf piracy facilitation service makes it easy for would-be pirates to create and monetise a fully functioning pirate service,” the EU report reads.
This description does not fit Njalla as we know it. However, it can be explained. Apparently, the the EU Commission appears to apply the general description of “Piracy as a Service” (PaaS) providers to Njalla. While MPA previously reported Njalla as a PaaS service (to the USTR), applying the full description seems out of place here.
In its submission, MPA argued that PaaS services, taken together, make it easy for aspiring pirates to launch their own services. However, Njalla itself does not allow “pirates to create and monetise a fully functioning pirate service” as the EU Commission suggests. That’s a concerning error, to say the least.
The PaaS term was originally coined years ago. We first noticed it in a MPA report in 2021, where the same “off the shelf” terminology was used.
IPFS
The final newcomer to stand out is the InterPlanetary File System, more broadly known as IPFS. This is a decentralized network where users make files available to each other. The system makes websites censorship resistant and not vulnerable to regular hosting outages.
These advantages allow archivists, content creators, researchers, and many others to reliably distribute large volumes of data over the Internet. Wikipedia has used it’s for example, and Lockheed Martin helped to launch an IPFS node into space.
However, the same censorship-resistant features also appeal to pirate sites, which is why the EU has now included it on its watch list. The same applies to the Interplanetary Distributed Literature Catalog (IPDL), which maintains links to torrent and IPFS archives.
“Super Pirate and the major pirate networks, including Library Genesis (LibGen), Z-Library, Anna’s Archive are reported to use public gateways to host and distribute copyrighted materials on IPFS,” the report reads.
Usual Suspects
In addition to roughly a dozen fresh entries, the EU watchlist includes many familiar websites. Torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, 1337x, and Rutracker make an appearance, similar to previous years.
Fmovies is still mentioned too, despite its shutdown last year. Instead of the original site, the EU Watch list now includes two copycat Fmovies sites; fmoviesto.site and f-moviesz.to.
The music category, meanwhile, is dominated by stream-ripping services, while publishing companies highlighted Sci-Hub and LibGen as persistent threats. The full list is completed by various hosting companies, IPTV services, and pirate apps and tools.
While all currently listed sites and services would likely prefer to remain unmentioned, there are no immediate consequences, at least as far as the EU is concerned.
The EU Commission notes that the Piracy Watch List mainly serves to encourage operators and owners, as well as local governments and enforcement authorities, to take appropriate action to reduce online piracy.
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A copy of the European Commission’s fourth Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List is available here (pdf). A list of all the online piracy targets and intermediaries can be found below.
Cyberlockers
– Mega.nz/.io
– Uptobox.com / Uptostream.com
– Rapidgator.net
– Uploaded.net (ul.to, uploaded.to)
– Dbree.org
– Doodstream (new)
– Z-Library (new)
Stream-Rippers
– YTMP3.CC, Ytmp3.nu (new)
– X2mate.com (new)
– Y2mate.com and related sites
– Savefrom.net /ssyoutube.com/sfrom.ne
– Flvto.biz and 2conv.com
– Snappea.com
Linking or referring websites
– Fmovies (clones, fmoviesto.site, f-moviesz.to)
– Seasonvar.ru
– Rlsbb.ru
– Rezka.ag
– Dytt8[.]net, Dytt89.com, Dy2018.net, Dy2018[.]com, Dydytt[.]net, and Ygdy8[.]com (new)
– Hianime (formerly Aniwatch[.]to and zoro[.]to) (new)
– Cuevana[.]biz and Cuevana3[.]eu, Cuevana3[.]ch, Cuevana.is (new)
– nsw2u.xyz/nsw2u.com/nsw2u.net (new)
– fitgirl-repacks.site (new)
– Pirlo TV (new)
Peer-to-peer and BitTorrent indexing websites
– ThePirateBay.org (and related domains)
– Rarbg.to
– Rutracker.org
– 1337x.to
– Interplanetary Distributed Literature Catalog (IPDL) (new)
– InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) (new)
Unlicensed download sites
– Music-Bazaar.com and Music-Bazaar.mobi
– Sci-hub.io (Sci-hub.tw; sci-hub.cc; sci-hub.ac; sci-hub.bz and others)
– Libgen.onl and mirror sites
Piracy Apps
– IPTV Smarters
– Ievpad.com
– MagisTV
– Shabakaty
Hosting providers
– DDoS-Guard.net
– Private Layer
– Virtual Systems, V-Sys (new)
– Squitter, ABC Consultancy, Peenq, ESTOXY, BestDC, SERDECHS (new)
– “Amarutu”, also known as Koddos
– AS-Istqservers / Istqserverses (“Istq”)
– HostPalace Web Solution PVT LTD (“Host Palace”)
Unlicensed IPTV services
– BIPTV.best and BestBuyIPTV.store
– King365tv.com / Theking365tv.pro, Theking365tv.site
– VolkaIPTV.com /.ru
– GenIPTV (new)
– Dark IPTV (new)
Piracy Supporting Services
– 2embed.ru; 2embed, or 2embed[.]cc / 2embed[.]skin
– Fembed.com
– Vidsrc[.]to (new)
– Njal[.]la – 1337 Services (new)
– GDrivePlayer (new)
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
