As the FIFA World Cup is gearing up for the grande finale in New York this weekend, international law enforcement offices look back at one of the largest anti-piracy efforts in sports history.

With help from private and public partners from all over the world, authorities seized well over a thousand domain names of pirate sports streaming sites. In the United States, the effort was branded “Operation Offsides” , which initially targeted nearly 400 domain names offering unauthorized World Cup streams. That turned out to be just the start.

Operation Offsides

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Operation Offsides on June 26, targeting pirate sites that streamed World Cup matches. The seizure warrant was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, but this appears to be sealed, as we were unable to locate a copy in the court database.

The DOJ and Homeland Security Investigations ran a similar crackdown during the 2022 Qatar World Cup , seizing 78 domains at the time. The 2026 action is at least five times larger, however, and was the result of international cooperation.

The domains were identified with assistance from FIFA , beIN Media Group, NBCUniversal, ACE , the UFC, and Warner Bros. International coordination through the DOJ’s ICHIP network extended the operation’s reach to Peru and Bulgaria, described in the announcement as known centers of online piracy activity, with supporting actions in Croatia, Romania, Poland, and Colombia.

The authorities did not mention any domains by name but TorrentFreak traced many through passive DNS data, with the current tally at 627 identified domains (listed below). While the seizures hit several major sports streaming sites, other popular sites operating under foreign-registry TLDs outside U.S. jurisdiction managed to survive.

Visitors of the blocked domain names, meanwhile, ran into the following splash banner, listing many of the partners involved.

The “Operation Offsides” seizures came in waves. Last weekend, more than 100 additional domains were seized , many of them fallback domains that pirate sites had switched to after the initial round. That same report also revealed that several operators switched to Iranian .ir fallback domains, in an effort to switch to infrastructure that is harder for U.S. law enforcement to reach.

Colombia Leads “Operation Red Card”

Two days before the World Cup final, Colombia’s Fiscalía General announced the results of a separate multinational enforcement effort it had coordinated under the name “Operación Tarjeta Roja” (Operation Red Card).

The international action brought together prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, and public ministries from nine countries: Colombia, the United States, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Chile, with support from private-sector audiovisual and sports organizations.

In Colombia alone, 1,140 domains and URLs used for unauthorized sports streaming were ‘suspended’. Across all participating countries, the total reached 1,840. Similar to the U.S. operation, the authorities did not name any domains.

“While the planet focused on the FIFA World Cup 2026, a group of nations went after the structures that profit from counterfeiting and theft of digital content,” said Fiscalía’s Raúl González Flechas, commenting on the news.

The Colombian operation, which targeted both counterfeiting and piracy, also resulted in 15 arrests. Four suspects in Soacha, near Bogotá, were accused of hacking into a telecom company’s platforms to offer cheap ‘pirated’ cable TV, posing as employees of the company. Two of the four accepted the charges.

Separately, 11 people running shops selling counterfeit World Cup merchandise were charged with trademark infringement and related offenses. Authorities seized 4,223 counterfeit sports items, 11,353 fake logos ready to be applied to garments, and 2,150 counterfeit Colombian Football Federation shields during raids in Bogotá, Itagüí, Cali, Acacías, and Bucaramanga.

Argentina Blocks FútbolLibre

Argentina also contributed to Operación Tarjeta Roja earlier in the tournament. In early July, the country’s UFECI cybercrime unit opened investigations against three platforms: Stella TV, Tele Latino, and sites associated with FútbolLibre, one of the most widely used pirate sports streaming brands in the country.

FútbolLibre had already been under investigation since 2022. This time, complaints from rightsholders DirecTV and Personal Flow provided additional evidence.

Three federal judges ordered ENACOM , Argentina’s communications regulator, and NIC Argentina , the country’s domain registry, to block access to 14 platforms and sites. However, as is often the case, there is no shortage of copycats using the same brands.

Pirate Ad Revenue Targeted

The enforcement wave was not limited to government action. The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) previously announced that it had cut off advertising revenue to 1,376 sites that illegally streamed sports or offered other World Cup content, through its Pirate Domain Exclusion List.

Rather than targeting domains directly, TAG aims to starve pirate streaming site operators of the ad revenue, so they will eventually give up.

“Global sporting events like the World Cup are prime targets for criminals who try to intercept legitimate ad dollars by stealing popular streaming content,” said TAG COO Rachel Nyswander Thomas.

More Results Expected

With the World Cup final set for this weekend, additional enforcement results from other participating countries may still be announced.

Whether these combined efforts have had lasting impact on pirate sports streaming availability has yet to be seen. The disruption certainly has an effect, but the enforcement efforts have also shown that some pirate site operators are resilient.

The success of these and future enforcement efforts will largely depend on how far the reach of the international authorities goes, and whether pirate site operators can still find unblocked fallback infrastructure. By the next World Cup in 2030 we should know more.

—

This article will be updated if more results from participating countries or partners come in.
—–

Below is a non-exhaustive and non-verified list of 627 domain names that, according to information gathered by TorrentFreak, were seized as part of Operation Offsides.


0u888.com
101livesportsvideos.com
11kora.com
1kora.com
1sportshd.xyz
1ststream.lol
1yallashoot.com
247sports.pro
247sports1.live
360kkora.com
360koora-live.com
360kora.com
360koratv.com
365kora.net
4kstream.online
808ball13.com
808sbo24.com
808score.net
90sport.com
925zhibo.com
99smartideas.com
aalexspt.xyz
abcvip83.live
abcvip86.com
acrli.org
ahsa-news.com
akhbar4news.online
akora-live.com
alamalkoora.info
alkooralive.com
alphastreams1.online
altasupercaps.com
alwansport.com
american-streams.xyz
aparatchi.com
arkooora.live
articlecontentdatabase.com
articletech.info
asyallakora.live
atkorat.net
awartoendnowars.com
bally-sports.click
balondeportes.com
barnstormingtour.com
beiin-match.com
bein-live.com
bein-match-worldcup.com
bein-match.com
bein-match.net
bein-mattch.com
bein4kora.com
beinkoralive.com
beinmatch-tv.space
beinmatch26.com
beinmatchs.blog
beinmatchs.life
beinmatchtv.com
beinmatsh.com
bhoomsports.com
bintv.net
bizzstreams.xyz
bj88ca.live
bluelive79.com
bluelive81.com
bluepool.info
bobsullivanforgov.com
bolasrolando.com
bonglautv.org
bracupgi.org
buff-streams.store
buff-streams.xyz
buffstreams.app
cagesharkdive.com
ccrackstreams.lat
childluresprevention.com
cityanma365.com
codyslajolla.com
communitymarketinginc.com
coolkora.today
coollkoora.live
crichd.tech
crichdbest.com
cupshots.live
daddylive.org
daddylive.site
daddylivestream.lol
dami-tv.pro
dartsstreams.com
daysports.online
defendersportstreams.com
deporflix.net
deporte-libre.live
deporte-libre.online
deportelibree.com
deportelibretv.com
digi-hdsport.net
dingdongsport.org
dongleweb.xyz
dosenow.net
dot-spor.com
dotsport.online
drhealthbenefits.com
dudestream2.com
dy-xq.com
ecrackstreams.com
egoal.net
egpnews.com
egylivehd3.com
egynoww.com
ekoralive.com
elitegoltv.pro
embedhd.org
eplayhd.com
erosmactv10.com
espnlive.net
evisa-gov-md.net
exorbitantprivilege.net
extremesportstv.online
f-x.site
falconstreams.org
fawanews-tv.net
fbstream.cc
feed-247.xyz
fifaonlineworldcup.com
finalstreams.xyz
firstrowsports.org
fitforcedaily.com
fkoraa.com
flavoursful.site
flixlive.pro
flixmv.com
foorja.live
footfytv.live
footstreams.link
footy100.net
footybite.app
footybitei.com
footybitez.app
fotoklikk.live
fotytv.com
foxtrend.click
freedomgloryproject.com
freekoora4you.com
freekora.com
fsportsshd.xyz
fullmatch-hd.com
funteam.info
futbol-libres.org
futbollibre-ag.com
futbollibre-hd.com
futbollibre-tv.com
futbollibre.gratis
futbollibrego.online
futbollibregratis.org
futbollibrehd.org
futbollibremundial.com
futbollibreonline.com
futbollibrestv.com
futbollibrestv.net
futbollibretotal.com
futbollibretv.site
futbollibretvenvivo.click
futbollibretvgratis.com
futbollibretvs.org
futbollibreusa.com
fuutbollibre.com
gavanglinks.com
gnolia.com
go4koora.net
go4kora.com
go4koraa.com
go4score.app
goal-koora.live
goal2.live
goalkora.com
goallivetv.com
goatsports.xyz
gogoalstream.com
goheali.com
golkoora.com
gollibre.com
golygoal.com
gomitoep.xyz
gomoodboard.com
gonutradeal.com
gosports.website
gosporttv.com
goto-matchat.live
gstream24.xyz
h9soccer.website
halastream.net
haya-live.com
hayasport.com
hd2live.com
hd7-new.com
hdlive7.com
hesgoals.lol
hesgoaltv.lat
hitcast.xyz
hitslink.xyz
ibuffstreams.app
icrackstreams.app
ifootybite.xyz
ihdstreams.site
ilovesharepoint.com
imethstreams.app
institutobancopalmas.org
interoutemediaservices.com
inyoureyesmovie.com
isoc-gfsi.org
istreameast.app
itamaeao.com
jazzstream.xyz
jgtvsports.com
jokerlivestreams.net
jonstream.lat
jonstream.lol
kaifangshui.com
kevinsport.com
kevinsport.lat
kevinsport.lol
kevinsport.org
kevinsport.space
kevinsportlive.lol
kilasod.com
kilasod24.com
kkooora4live.net
knatech.info
knupath.com
kooora-city.com
kooora-dz.com
kooora-mobashir.com
kooora-now.com
kooora-sia.com
kooora-sport.com
kooora365.com
kooora365.net
kooora4live.online
kooora4lives.net
kooora4livetv.com
koooraa4live.com
koooragoal360.com
kooorapro.com
koora-euro.com
koora-live-live.com
koora-livehd7.com
koora-lives.run
koora-tv.com
koora-yallashoot.live
koora.world
koora1live.com
koora24.space
koora48.com
koora4livehd.com
kooraa4live.com
kooragoal24.com
kooragol-live.com
kooraiive.info
kooralite.com
kooralive69.com
kooraliveworldcup.com
koorallive24.com
koorastar.org
koorati.com
kora-999.com
kora-city.com
kora-gol.com
kora-live4k.com
kora-online.net
kora-online24.com
kora-onlineone.com
kora-plus.app
kora-s.com
kora-shoot.com
kora-show.com
kora-yalla.org
kora1lives.com
kora24.online
kora26.com
kora360-live.com
kora360-lives.com
kora360-tv.com
kora4.xyz
kora48.com
kora999-live.com
kora999.com
kora999live.com
kora999live.net
kora999live.org
koraastar.blog
koraastar.com
koracity-hd.com
koracity-live.com
koraextralive.com
korahnet.live
koralives.mov
koralivetv.online
korallive.online
koraonlines.com
koraprotv.com
korasportlive.com
korat5.com
koratair.com
koratcity.info
koratonline.net
korats.net
koraworlds.com
korax90.net
korralive.info
lasthopesports.site
libre-pelota.com
librefutbol.today
librefutbolgratis.com
librepelotatv.com
liva7hd.info
livahd7.xyz
live-hdtv.xyz
live-yallashootx.com
livehd6.com
livehd7.online
livehd7s.info
livehd7top.com
livehd7watch-on.com
livekora.pro
livescorer.net
livesoccers.live
livesyria.info
livevss.net
livevstv.net
luxurycreeks.xyz
masterstream.site
megaevent.store
mipirlotv.org
mjumbo.dad
movish.net
mpokora-online.net
mundialenvivohd.net
myscore.org
nbatv.live
newucity.xyz
no2tv24.com
okkora-live.com
okkora.live
onesportsworld.online
onionstream.live
openphacts.org
panda-hd.online
pelota-libres.com
pelota-libretv.com
pelota-libretv.org
pelotalibre-hd.org
pelotalibre.website
pelotalibreargentina.org
pelotalibreenvivotv.com
pelotalibregratis.com
pelotalibrehd.org
pelotalibrehoy.com
pelotalibres.net
pelotalibrestv.org
pelotalibretotal.com
pirlotv.live
pirlotv.online
pirlotv.sale
pirlotv.site
pirlotvblog.com
pirlotvenvivo.info
pirlotvhd.lat
pirlotvhd.run
pirlotvhd.website
pirlotvonline.click
pirlotvpl.com
pirlotvplay.dev
pirlotvs.app
pirlotvs.blog
pirlotvs.com
pirlotvs.online
playcapos.com
pockeemtv.click
powerstreams.online
ppcmasr.com
ppv.to
primeplaylive.website
primevideo.website
qiuke.app
qiuyou.live
rdcanais.com
redditsoccerstreams.name
rhinoarena.com
ripplenetwork.forum
ripplenetwork.lol
rojadirecta.fan
rojadirecta.mobi
rojadirecta.pics
rojadirectaatv.com
rojadirectaftv.com
rojadirectahd.blog
rojadirectahd.click
rojadirectahd.dev
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rojadirectahd1.club
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rojadirectahoy.com
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rojadirectapl.com
rojadirectastream.blog
rojadirectastv.net
rojadirectastv.org
rojadirectatv.fan
rojadirectatv.net
rojadirectatv2.com
rojadirectatvenvivo.click
rojadirectatvenvivo.pro
rojadirectatvenvivohd.info
rojadirectatvhd.life
rojadirectatvhd.net
rojadirectatvlibre.com
rojadirectavivo.xyz
rojadirectvlive.com
rojatvblog.com
rolandsledge.com
sa-koora.com
samokoora.com
sandersunfiltered.com
saoketv39.xyz
saoketvlive.com
score-808.net
score8o8.com
sgtpepperat50.com
shahid-koora.live
shazysport.click
shazysport.live
shd247.info
shd247.live
shootwithyalla.com
shstream.live
sia-bth.net
sigmastreamer4th.online
siir-tv.live
sirtv.net
smartcric.click
smartstudysask.com
socceraccess.net
sognandoeballando.com
songkhep.com
sportcxh.site
sportontv.space
sportp2plive.store
sportplus.live
sports-x.net
sportsbay.pro
sportsdaldal.site
sportsfeed24.app
sportsfeed24.org
sportsgames.today
sportsgoals.xyz
sportshd.app
sportsmachine.xyz
sportsonline.click
sportsonlline.click
sportssonline.click
sportsupa.xyz
sportsurge.ws
sportsurgez.com
sporttsonline.click
sportytrend.net
sportzane.com
ssirtv.com
streambest.mom
streambtw.com
streamcenter.live
streamcorner.click
streamcorner.fyi
streamcraft.click
streameast.mov
streameastlinks.com
streamfree.app
streamfree.link
streamiz.click
streamninja.online
streamninja.xyz
streams.center
streamsports99.fun
streamthunder.org
streamticker.xyz
streamtpday1.xyz
stremonsport.net
strm01.app
strumyk.net
super-surge.store
supra-stream.com
surfg.org
swhlegal.com
syarlive.xyz
syirialive.pro
syria-live.net
syria-live.today
syria2011.net
syria2012.net
syriaalive.pro
syrialive-hd.com
syrianlive.live
syriaolives.com
syrlive.com
syrlive.net
syrlive.world
tarjetaroja.fan
tarjetaroja.space
tarjetarojablog.com
tarjetarojamas.com
tarjetarojaonline.net
tarjetarojas.com
tarjetarojatv.click
tarjetarojatv.life
tarjetarojatv.space
tarjetarojatvblog.net
tarjetarojatvenvivo.click
tarjetarojatvenvivo.store
tarjetarojatvs.org
tarjetarojatvstream.com
techbugs.info
techiguides.info
telefullhd.net
the-hesgoal.com
the-tv.app
thefootybite.site
thefutbollibre.com
theglasslands.com
therealone.online
thesports.today
thetvapp.link
thetvappv2.com
tibbaa.com
tipslab.info
tnt-usa.website
tonnalukal.com
topstream.lol
totalsportek.tips
totalsportekz.app
totalsportekz.com
transitionnorthfield.org
trendgola.org
tructiepbongda.space
tulibrefutbol.com
tulnit.com
tv-shihab.xyz
tv-sir.com
tv-sport-hd.net
tv-yalla-shoot.com
tv96.world
tvhd2.com
tvlibr3.com
tvlibre-online.com
tvnise.com
tvsportslive.org
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ukdaddy.online
us-cap.org
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victorystreams.xyz
vipbox-tv.live
viper-play.org
viperplay.net
vipleague.run
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wikisports.site
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yyzb2288.com
znochikai.com

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

The Diary of Anne Frank is widely regarded as one of the best-known literary works in history.

While the diary’s importance is universally recognized, the accessibility of its digital manuscripts has been at the center of a Dutch copyright battle that eventually made its way to the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU ).

The legal dispute was triggered by differences in copyright protection terms in the EU. Parts of Anne Frank’s manuscripts remain protected in the Netherlands until 2037, while the same material entered the public domain in Belgium and many other EU member states years ago.

To navigate these conflicting laws, the Dutch Anne Frank Stichting published a scholarly edition online using “state-of-the-art” geo-blocking to prevent Dutch residents from accessing the site. Visitors from the Netherlands and other countries where the work is protected are met with a clear message, informing them about these access restrictions.

“The scholarly edition of the Anne Frank manuscripts cannot be made available in all countries, due to copyright considerations,” is the message blocked visitors get to see.

Despite these blocking measures, the Swiss-based Anne Frank Fonds was not pleased. The Fonds essentially argued that if a block isn’t 100% bypass-proof, the content shouldn’t be online at all.

The Dutch lower court dismissed this argument, stating the defendants had taken reasonable measures to prevent access from the Netherlands. The Fonds appealed, without result, and the case is now before the Dutch Supreme Court, which referred several questions to the EU’s top court to decide the fate of VPN neutrality and the sufficiency of geo-blocking.

State-of-the-Art Geo-Blocking Is Good Enough

In January, Advocate General Rantos published his opinion concluding that geo-blocking is a sufficient measure and that VPN providers are neutral intermediaries. That opinion was not binding, but it set the tone for what followed.

Last week, the CJEU’s Second Chamber delivered its final judgment. The Court ruled that a work that’s in the public domain in some EU member states, but still under copyright in another, can be published on a geo-blocked website without being considered an infringing “communication to the public” in the protected country.

The Court recognized that geo-blocking can be circumvented with a VPN, but that is not the decisive factor. If a publisher specifically chose to use a state-of-the-art geo-blocking to block visitors from a specific country, it is clear that these people are not the intended audience.

“While it is true that geo-blocking measures, including state-of-the-art measures, can, like any technological measure, be circumvented, particularly through the use of a VPN or similar service, the possibility of such circumvention cannot, in itself and in all circumstances, be a decisive factor in finding those measures to be inadequate and, therefore, ineffective,” the judgment reads.

The Court also rejected the idea that publishers should be required to use stricter access controls, such as subscriptions or login requirements. Imposing those measures would disproportionately restrict free access for users in public-domain countries.

The Anne Frank website also uses a self-declaration barrier, shown above, asking visitors to confirm that they are accessing the site from a public-domain country. The Court found that this type of measure, on its own, is not sufficient or effective.

VPN Providers Are not Liable

VPN providers are not liable if they are used to bypass state-of-the-art geo-blocking measures. The same logic also holds if the geo-blocking measures are ineffective to begin with.

The EU’s top court sees VPN providers as neutral intermediaries, referring to previous rulings where YouTube and Uploaded were not held liable for pirating users. As an intermediary, a VPN itself simply acts as a secure, neutral routing tool that’s not communicating anything to the public.

“The provider of a VPN or similar services that are used in order to circumvent an ineffective geo-blocking measure and are lawful technical tools which users may legitimately use cannot be regarded as also having communicated the work to the public,” the judgment reads.

The Court explained that a VPN provider “does not give end users access to a protected work” and added that it “does not play an ‘indispensable role'” in any act of communication.

This conclusion is significant. It effectively confirms that the EU’s highest court does not see VPN providers as copyright infringers simply because their technology enables users to bypass geographical restrictions.

The Broader Fallout

The CJEU ruling means that VPN providers are not held directly liable under EU law. However, this finding still has to be interpreted by local courts.

In this case, it goes back to the Dutch Supreme Court, which still has to decide whether the geo-blocking system deployed by the Anne Frank Stichting actually meets the “state-of-the-art” threshold.

The ruling comes at a time when the status of VPNs in copyright enforcement is also being tested from the opposite direction. In France, for example, VPNs are required to block pirate sites, as they are seen as key intermediaries, similar to ISPs.

The CJEU ruling is not in direct conflict with the French court orders, which are issued under the French Sports Code. However, these blocking orders are actively contested too and may eventually find their way to the EU’s top court as well.

—

A copy of the CJEU’s judgment in Case C-788/24 (ECLI:EU:C:2026:559) is available here .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Founded in 2010, AnimeFLV has been a dominant player in the anime piracy ecosystem for years.

The Spanish-language site is particularly popular in Latin America and served more than a billion annual visits at its height.

This popularity didn’t go unnoticed with rightsholders. The site has been on the anti-piracy radar for years and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) flagged the site in its most recent report to the U.S. Trade Representative.

According to the MPA, AnimeFLV’s operators are believed to be located in Peru, Chile, and Mexico. In the latter two countries, the anime portal is also among the 100 most-visited websites. However, due to recent changes this traffic rank will likely drop.

“There are currently no videos”

AnimeFLV ran without significant issues for years, but that changed in mid-June. While the site remained online with the content listings intact, the video player categorically returns the message “Actualmente no hay videos,” informing visitors that ‘there are currently no videos.’

In other words, the popular anime site has effectively become a ghost directory of series and movies.

Initial hiccups were reported in April already but the site recovered from those. By late June, however, bug reports on GitHub from the Aniyomi anime app’s extension tracker confirmed that AnimeFLV’s player returned no video sources at all.

The site’s operators have not issued any statement to this day. No anti-piracy organization has taken credit either, but the video disappearance comes at a time when several major anime and manga operations were dismantled.

A Wave of Pirate Site Shutdowns

In April, we reported that TuMangaOnline, also known as ZonaTMO, was shut down following an enforcement action from Korean rightsholders.

Also in April, the backend infrastructure of many prominent pirate sites was knocked offline. These sites were linked to the popular “Piracy-as-a-Service” operations such as MegaCloud and VidCloud , that also acted as a hosting platform.

A few weeks earlier, the massive anime pirate site HiAnime had already closed its doors . While this action long remained unexplained, earlier this month Vietnamese authorities eventually launched a criminal prosecution against seven people associated with the piracy ring.

While AnimeFLV’s issues fit in this bigger picture, we can’t independently link it directly to these earlier crackdowns. The mid-June date doesn’t directly link to any other known enforcement actions either.

A Valuable Ghost Directory

What makes AnimeFLV’s situation unusual is that the site hasn’t disappeared. The front end remains fully functional, and the ‘ghost’ directory is still being updated.

Why the operators remain silent on the video issues is food for speculation. However, the fact that they keep the site online suggests that it may not permanently close its doors. Whether it will continue as a directory-only site or something more has yet to be seen.

While AnimeFLV still gets plenty of residual traffic, Leiinad World notes that potential successors were quick to enter the scene too. This includes a newer site called AnimeAV1, which references the more modern AV1 codec, instead of the outdated and largely obsolete FLV (Flash) container format.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

With the FIFA World Cup nearing its conclusion this week, the crackdown on sports streaming sites continued this weekend.

As part of the “ Operation Offsides ” enforcement action, led by U.S. authorities, more than 100 domain names were seized over the past days.

These new seizures came more than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice officially announced the action. While no new announcement was released, the recent seizures in part target fallback domains that pirate sites switched to following the initial crackdown.

For example, when the buffstreams.plus domain name was seized, ibuffstreams.app took its place, pointing to the same server infrastructure. This backup domain did not go unnoticed and was subsequently seized, pointing to the now-familiar banner.

These secondary domain seizures also targeted many other domains and brands, including sportsurge.ws, footybite.app, totalsportekz.app, and istreameast.app. A longer list with more examples is available below.

Iranian Fallback

As long as the people running these sites are not caught, they will often launch new domain names. This is not new, but a recent series of domains caught our eye, as it is using seemingly more resilient fallback: Iran’s .ir country-code top-level domain.

OSINT data gathered by TorrentFreak found that buffstreams.ir, sportsurge.ir, and footybite.ir are all active and operational. These domains resolve to the same Ukrainian IP-address , which was previously used by the now seized buffstreams.plus, ibuffstreams.app, and sportsurge.ws domains.

The Iranian domains are paired with Iranian nameservers , ns1.pars.cloud and ns2.pars.cloud , which are also new as the earlier domains relied on Cloudflare nameservers. This suggests that the operators are intentionally moving away from American infrastructure.

Three Years in the Making

Iranian WHOIS data doesn’t reveal when the domains were registered, but SSL certificate logs tell us these .ir domains are not recent emergency registrations.

Both buffstreams.ir and sportsurge.ir received their first SSL certificates on September 22, 2023, within six minutes of each other. Their certificate chains have been renewed without interruption every 90 days since.

In other words, the .ir domains were set up nearly three years before Operation Offsides was announced. All this time they were presumably kept in reserve as a fallback and following the recent seizure actions they were brought to the fore.

The same certificate information also shows that, a few days ago , these .ir domains moved away from the Google SSL certificates they have been using for years. Instead, they switched to certificates from Let’s Encrypt.

More Iranian Links

The three domains on pars.cloud are not the only pirate streaming brands using .ir. Our investigation identified at least 20 additional streaming-related .ir domains spread across several operator clusters.

This includes Totalsportek, nflbite, and nflstreams branded sites with .ir domains, which are all share the same Cloudflare nameserver pair, indicating that they are run from the same account. There is also a separate .ir-linked mlb66 and nhl66 operation, which has been in use for a while.

These .ir domains are not necessarily a response to the recent U.S. domain seizures, as they’ve been around for much longer, but they show that more operators have discovered the .ir ccTLD.

In fact, we have also seen a cluster of Iranian sports streaming domains that are registered, but are not serving any content. These include nbabite.ir, nbastreams.ir, nhlbite.ir, mmastreams.ir, nflstream.ir, stream2watch.ir, and streameastt.ir. These may be waiting to be deployed at a later moment.

Political Tensions

Iran’s .ir country-code TLD is managed by IRNIC, which is part of the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, an academic institution based in Tehran. This makes it essentially unreachable for U.S. law enforcement.

Because of American sanctions, U.S. domain registrars are not allowed to resell .ir domain names. At the same time, given the current state of U.S.-Iran relations it is unlikely that IRNIC will voluntarily cooperate with U.S. authorities to target these domain names.

For pirate sites operators, .ir domains are also appealing due to a revision of IRNIC’s WHOIS policy in 2023. As a result, public queries no longer return registration dates, registrant names, or other contact information. For outsiders, these domains are essentially anonymous.

Notably, Iran’s copyright laws do not cover works from outside Iran, as the country is not a signatory to the Berne Convention, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, or a member of the WTO. This further complicates enforcement actions.

Of course, there are plenty of downsides to using .ir domain names. The international sanctions will make it challenging to monetize these domains, while Iranian domains are more complicated to register, and may also seem less trustworthy to the broader public.

Also, if an Iranian domain name gets millions of monthly visits, including a large American audience, the U.S. authorities may try to target these operations from alternative angles.

—

Below is a list pirate sports streaming domains that were seized this past weekend. This is addition to the domain names that were seized earlier .

– 247sports1.live
– 4kstream.online
– 808score.net
– acrli.org
– alamalkoora.info
– alphastreams1.online
– arkooora.live
– articletech.info
– asyallakora.live
– bally-sports.click
– bintv.net
– bracupgi.org
– buffstreams.app
– coollkoora.live
– cupshots.live
– daddylive.org
– daysports.online
– deporte-libre.live
– deporte-libre.online
– dingdongsport.org
– dosenow.net
– dotsport.online
– embedhd.org
– exorbitantprivilege.net
– extremesportstv.online
– falconstreams.org
– firstrowsports.org
– foorja.live
– footfytv.live
– footstreams.link
– footy100.net
– footybite.app
– footybitez.app
– fotoklikk.live
– funteam.info
– futbollibre.gratis
– goal-koora.live
– goal2.live
– goto-matchat.live
– halastream.net
– ibuffstreams.app
– kkooora4live.net
– knatech.info
– kooora4live.online
– kooora4lives.net
– koora-yallashoot.live
– kooraiive.info
– koorastar.org
– kora24.online
– kora999live.org
– korahnet.live
– koralives.mov
– koralivetv.online
– korallive.online
– koratcity.info
– koratonline.net
– korats.net
– korax90.net
– korralive.info
– livehd7.online
– livehd7s.info
– livesoccers.live
– livesyria.info
– livevss.net
– livevstv.net
– mjumbo.dad
– movish.net
– okkora.live
– onesportsworld.online
– onionstream.live
– openphacts.org
– pelotalibreargentina.org
– pirlotvs.app
– powerstreams.online
– qiuke.app
– qiuyou.live
– ripplenetwork.forum
– rojadirectahd1.club
– rojadirectatvenvivo.click
– score-808.net
– shahid-koora.live
– shazysport.click
– shazysport.live
– shd247.info
– shd247.live
– shstream.live
– sigmastreamer4th.online
– siir-tv.live
– smartcric.click
– sportplus.live
– sports-x.net
– sportsfeed24.org
– sportsonline.click
– sportsonlline.click
– sportssonline.click
– sporttsonline.click
– streamcenter.live
– streamcorner.fyi
– streamcraft.click
– streameast.mov
– streamfree.link
– streamiz.click
– streamninja.online
– streams.center
– streamsports99.fun
– streamthunder.org
– stremonsport.net
– strm01.app
– syria-live.net
– syria2011.net
– syria2012.net
– syrlive.net
– tarjetarojaonline.net
– tarjetarojatv.click
– tarjetarojatvenvivo.click
– techbugs.info
– techiguides.info
– the-tv.app
– therealone.online
– thetvapp.link
– transitionnorthfield.org
– trendgola.org
– tvsportslive.org
– ukdaddy.online
– us-cap.org
– vipbox-tv.live
– yalla-play.net
– yalla4.live
– yallagoolz.net
– yallaksa.live
– yallalive.fun
– yallashoot.fun
– yallashot.life
– yallasnap.net

link to .ir sites.

(buffstreams.ir and sportsurge.ir resolve to 45.12.1.108, as do/did uffstreams.plus, ibuffstreams.app, the-tv.app, sportsurge.ws)

cluster 1 infra to avade US seizures

iran interesting choice as it’s not likely to volunrarily cooperate with US authorities considering recent tensions

more examples, not necessarily reactive /// “24All” and “66” brands already had .ir domains for years

We can expect more seizure action as the World Cup comes ot its end,

Pirate Sports Streaming Operation Switches to Iranian Domains as U.S. Seizures Continue

U.S. Domain Seizures of Sports Streaming Sites Continue with an Iranian Twist

buffstreams.app Jul 12, 2026
footybite.app Jul 12, 2026
footybitez.app Jul 12, 2026
ibuffstreams.app Jul 12, 2026
pirlotvs.app Jul 12, 2026
qiuke.app Jul 12, 2026
strm01.app Jul 12, 2026
the-tv.app Jul 12, 2026
mjumbo.dad Jul 12, 2026
koralives.mov Jul 12, 2026
streameast.mov Jul 12, 2026
808score.net Jul 12, 2026
bintv.net Jul 12, 2026
dosenow.net Jul 12, 2026
exorbitantprivilege.net Jul 12, 2026
footy100.net Jul 12, 2026
halastream.net Jul 12, 2026
kkooora4live.net Jul 12, 2026
kooora4lives.net Jul 12, 2026
koratonline.net Jul 12, 2026
korats.net Jul 12, 2026
korax90.net Jul 12, 2026
livevss.net Jul 12, 2026
livevstv.net Jul 12, 2026
movish.net Jul 12, 2026
score-808.net Jul 12, 2026
sports-x.net Jul 12, 2026
stremonsport.net Jul 12, 2026
syria-live.net Jul 12, 2026
syria2011.net Jul 12, 2026
syria2012.net Jul 12, 2026
syrlive.net Jul 12, 2026
tarjetarojaonline.net Jul 12, 2026
yalla-play.net Jul 12, 2026
yallagoolz.net Jul 12, 2026
yallasnap.net Jul 12, 2026
streams.center Jul 11, 2026
rojadirectahd1.club Jul 11, 2026
bally-sports.click Jul 11, 2026
rojadirectatvenvivo.click Jul 11, 2026
shazysport.click Jul 11, 2026
smartcric.click Jul 11, 2026
sportsonline.click Jul 11, 2026
sportsonlline.click Jul 11, 2026
sportssonline.click Jul 11, 2026
sporttsonline.click Jul 11, 2026
streamcraft.click Jul 11, 2026
streamiz.click Jul 11, 2026
tarjetarojatv.click Jul 11, 2026
tarjetarojatvenvivo.click Jul 11, 2026
ripplenetwork.forum Jul 11, 2026
streamsports99.fun Jul 11, 2026
yallalive.fun Jul 11, 2026
yallashoot.fun Jul 11, 2026
streamcorner.fyi Jul 11, 2026
futbollibre.gratis Jul 11, 2026
alamalkoora.info Jul 11, 2026
articletech.info Jul 11, 2026
funteam.info Jul 11, 2026
knatech.info Jul 11, 2026
kooraiive.info Jul 11, 2026
koratcity.info Jul 11, 2026
korralive.info Jul 11, 2026
livehd7s.info Jul 11, 2026
livesyria.info Jul 11, 2026
shd247.info Jul 11, 2026
techbugs.info Jul 11, 2026
techiguides.info Jul 11, 2026
yallashot.life Jul 11, 2026
footstreams.link Jul 11, 2026
streamfree.link Jul 11, 2026
thetvapp.link Jul 11, 2026
247sports1.live Jul 11, 2026
arkooora.live Jul 11, 2026
asyallakora.live Jul 11, 2026
coollkoora.live Jul 11, 2026
cupshots.live Jul 11, 2026
deporte-libre.live Jul 11, 2026
foorja.live Jul 11, 2026
footfytv.live Jul 11, 2026
fotoklikk.live Jul 11, 2026
goal-koora.live Jul 11, 2026
goal2.live Jul 11, 2026
goto-matchat.live Jul 11, 2026
koora-yallashoot.live Jul 11, 2026
korahnet.live Jul 11, 2026
livesoccers.live Jul 11, 2026
okkora.live Jul 11, 2026
onionstream.live Jul 11, 2026
qiuyou.live Jul 11, 2026
shahid-koora.live Jul 11, 2026
shazysport.live Jul 11, 2026
shd247.live Jul 11, 2026
shstream.live Jul 11, 2026
siir-tv.live Jul 11, 2026
sportplus.live
streamcenter.live
vipbox-tv.live
yalla4.live
yallaksa.live
ukdaddy.online
therealone.online
streamninja.online
sigmastreamer4th.online
powerstreams.online
onesportsworld.online
livehd7.online
korallive.online
koralivetv.online
kora24.online
kooora4live.online
extremesportstv.online
dotsport.online
deporte-libre.online
daysports.online
alphastreams1.online
4kstream.online
us-cap.org
tvsportslive.org
trendgola.org
transitionnorthfield.org
streamthunder.org
sportsfeed24.org
pelotalibreargentina.org
openphacts.org
kora999live.org
koorastar.org
firstrowsports.org
falconstreams.org
embedhd.org
dingdongsport.org
daddylive.org
bracupgi.org
acrli.org
futbollibre.gratis
streamcorner.fyi
yallashoot.fun
yallalive.fun
streamsports99.fun
ripplenetwork.forum
tarjetarojatvenvivo.click
tarjetarojatv.click
streamiz.click
streamcraft.click
sporttsonline.click
sportssonline.click
sportsonlline.click
sportsonline.click
smartcric.click
shazysport.click
rojadirectatvenvivo.click
bally-sports.click
rojadirectahd1.club
streams.center

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Google rarely addresses pirate site blocking in public, but it is a significant concern now that these measures directly impact the company’s own infrastructure.

The American tech company has been ordered to block access to pirate domain names through its DNS resolver in France , Belgium , Italy and Portugal, for example.

In a recent submission to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the review of the Copyright Directive, Google lists its site blocking critique in detail. The filing is marked “Privileged and Confidential” but it was posted publicly on the commission’s website, alongside other submissions.

Blocking Harms Outweigh Benefits, Google Argues

Google’s submission addresses a variety of topics, including the company’s opposition to broad site blocking measures. This includes VPN and third-party DNS blocking, which is seen as disproportionate and ineffective. The same applies to IP-address blocking, which risks targeting infrastructure of legitimate sites and services.

“Blocking DNS resolvers, IPs, VPNs, is ineffective, as it does not remove content at all and is easily circumvented by using alternative DNS resolvers. It is disproportionate, catching lawful services, raising extra-territoriality concerns and blocking entire domains,” Google writes.

“Similarly, blocking IP addresses neither removes the content nor achieves proportionate outcomes, as many lawful services may be using the same IP address,” the company adds.

The submission cited several real-world examples to support these claims. It mentions that Italy’s Piracy Shield blocked a Google Drive subdomain, as well as IP-addresses hosting over 42 million domains of Cloudflare customers . Meanwhile, in France, CISCO stopped offering its OpenDNS service after a local court ordered DNS resolver blockades.

Google also highlights a December 2019 incident in Portugal where ISPs blocked Google-hosted Virtual IP addresses, disrupting “core Google services and cut off legitimate traffic for other innocent Google Cloud customers sharing the same virtual IPs.”

These concerns are not incidental. A large-scale empirical study published by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) recently found that following a LaLiga blocking order in Spain, more than 554,000 domains were blocked at least once during football match broadcasts. This included website from Amnesty International and the ACLU, UNICEF, UNHCR, the Australian Senate, Stanford Law Review, and Amazon S3 endpoints.

Clear Guardrails

In addition to the overblocking concerns, the submission notes that any expansions of the blocking regime in Europe should be proportional and keep the safeguards in mind that are already provided by EU law. Google specifically notes that courts “should not serve as mere rightholder ‘mail boxes’, by simply rubber-stamping blocking demands.”

Google believes that blocking injunction should only be used as a last resort if regular takedown options failed. These injunctions should be transparent, limited in time, while both rightsholders and the intermediaries share the implementation costs.

The submission shows that Google is not outright opposed to site blocking, as long as it’s restricted to targeted and proportional measures. The real solution to piracy does not lie in enforcement, Google argues, but in creating superior legal alternatives.

“In our experience, unmet consumer demand is a key driver of piracy. That is why one of the best ways to combat piracy is to provide better, more convenient, and legitimate alternatives,” Google writes.

U.S. Site Blocking Gains Momentum

Google’s EU filing was submitted a few days before U.S. lawmakers doubled down on their site blocking intentions. On June 30, the House IP subcommittee held a hearing on copyright protection and enforcement on the Internet, with planned site blocking legislation as a key topic.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa told The Capitol Forum that he planned to introduce a site blocking bill that week. While there is no record of an introduced bill, it suggests that momentum is building.

This was also confirmed during the hearing , as Issa closed by signaling that the educational phase of the lawmaking process is over.

“Language is being distributed on what we’ll believe is final compromises to get to legislation,” he said. “It’s going to be my intention, with the help of my chairman and old friend, Mr. Jordan , that we will move it out of this committee.”

Rep. Issa is retiring at the end of his current term. Whether the bill has been formally introduced since his stated deadline is not clear. TorrentFreak has reached out to Issa’s office for comment, but we didn’t hear back.

Issa’s bill isn’t the only proposal. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who introduced the competing FADPA bill last year, told The Capitol Forum she is negotiating a bipartisan, bicameral “four corners agreement” with Issa and Senators Blackburn, Coons, Schiff, and Tillis. That formally confirms out earlier reporting .

Meanwhile, the hearing made clear that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Cox v. Sony only intensified the call for site blocking. The Supreme Court concluded that ISPs cannot be held secondarily liable for user piracy unless they actively induce or tailor their services for infringement, which means that rightsholders will need an alternative enforcement tool.

Google is Silent on U.S. Plans

Google has not commented on the U.S. site blocking plans yet, but it is a member of the Software and Information Industry Association ( SIIA ) whose president, Chris Mohr, did testify at the recent subcommittee hearing.

According to Mohr, his members are “genuinely split” on site blocking. At the same time, he stressed that a U.S. blocking bill should have robust judicial backing, while the technical measures should be precise enough to prevent overblocking and protect shared infrastructure.

The Internet Infrastructure Coalition ( I2Coalition ), which represents major tech companies including Amazon, Cloudflare, and Google, has previously critiqued broad blocking plans. Last year the organization launched its DNS at Risk campaign, warning the public about DNS blocking threats.

Google’s EU submission is also quite outspoken. While it does not refer to the American plans, Google is clearly opposed to requiring blocking measures from third-party DNS resolvers, while noting that blocking is ineffective, disproportionate, and harmful to lawful sites and services.

Whether the company will make the same arguments publicly as the American bill moves forward remains to be seen.

—

Google’s submission to the European Commission’s consultation is available here (pdf) .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Bulgaria was one of the first countries in the world to consider pirate site blocking nearly two decades ago.

As part of a crackdown on local torrent trackers, the government ordered ISPs to block access to the ArenaBG tracker in 2007.

The blocking actions resulted in public outrage and street protests. Some Internet providers pushed back as well, questioning the legality of the requested measures, and the blocking instructions were eventually withdrawn.

Today, nearly twenty years have passed and Bulgaria continues to struggle with site blocking. This, despite being part of the EU, where site blocking mechanisms are widely authorized.

Blocking The Pirate Bay and Zamunda

In February 2020, the Bulgarian Association of Music Producers ( BAMP ) and IFPI launched a civil lawsuit against three ISPs, seeking a court order requiring them to block The Pirate Bay and Zamunda, the country’s most-visited torrent site.

Two of the three ISPs fought back hard. They described the claim as “inadmissible” and “baseless.” One, identified only as ‘N.1’ in court documents, pointed out that Bulgarian law does not recognize a claim “for blocking access to Internet sites,” and argued that EU law requiring member states to ensure access to injunction applications against intermediaries would not apply because Bulgaria had not yet transposed those provisions into national law.

The Sofia City Court disagreed. In May 2023, it ordered the three ISPs to block both sites , including all mirrors and proxies, within six months. BAMP called it “a major step forward” in the fight against music piracy. IFPI chief executive Francis Moore welcomed the ruling. It was, by all appearances, a landmark win.

However, the first Bulgarian site blocking order wasn’t final yet, as the ISPs appealed.

ISPs Win Blocking Appeal at Supreme Court

Earlier this year, Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) issued its final ruling in the blocking case, siding with the ISPs. The court held that under current Bulgarian copyright law, rightsholders cannot obtain pirate site blocking injunctions in standard civil proceedings.

EU law, specifically the Enforcement Directive ( IPRED ), requires member states to provide mechanisms for injunctions against intermediaries. However, the court found that Bulgaria has not fully transposed those provisions into its national copyright legislation in a way that makes permanent blocking injunctions an option.

The court noted that ISPs are seen as mere conduits. Without clear national rules balancing freedom of information and proportionality, courts cannot issue site blocking injunctions based on current copyright law.

This effectively means that Bulgarian lawmakers have to address the shortcomings with new legislation, before site blocking orders can be granted.

BAMP Wants EU to Step In

The Supreme Court appeal concluded earlier this year but largely went unnoticed, as local press didn’t pick it up. The only public mention was a brief client bulletin published by Sofia law firm Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. , which is intended for corporate clients rather than the public.

The ruling came on our radar last week, when BAMP submitted its response to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on a targeted initiative for a better copyright environment. The Supreme Court ruling shows that the EU must require its members to implement existing EU directives.

“The Court identified a legislative deficiency, holding that the existing provisions of the Bulgarian Copyright Act do not provide a legal basis for granting final website-blocking injunctions against intermediaries on the merits and that this deficiency can only be remedied through legislative action.”

“This illustrates the importance of ensuring the full and correct implementation of the existing EU acquis across all Member States before considering further legislative initiatives,” BAMP’s submission adds.

It’s Not Over Yet

The Bulgarian ruling means that, after all these years, local rightsholders are still without site blocking options. This doesn’t mean that the country isn’t making any copyright enforcement progress. With help from the U.S., Bulgaria shut down the country’s largest torrent trackers earlier this year, including ArenaBG, Zamunda, and Zelka.

Not much later, the U.S. Trade Representative removed the country from the “Watch List” category in its annual Special 301 Report. The U.S. praised the country for its significant enforcement actions, among other things.

The Supreme court ruling presents a clear setback for rightsholders. However, they are not without recourse. As highlighted by Dimitrov, Petrov & Co., the Supreme Court noted that rightsholders that are harmed by Bulgaria’s failure to fully implement EU requirements, could potentially sue the state for damages.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian lawmakers have been working on an amendment to the Copyright and Related Rights Act that could potentially address the shortcomings. The amendment has been in preparation since at least 2022 but, as of today, it has yet to be approved.

—

A copy of BAMP’s submission to the European Commission Call for Evidence is available here (pdf) . TorrentFreak did not have access to the Supreme Court’s full ruling. The reporting here is based on the BAMP submission and the coverage from Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Last December, the High Court in New Delhi, India, granted a broad pirate site blocking order in favor of American movie industry giants, including Apple, Warner, Netflix, Disney and Crunchyroll.

In addition to targeting residential ISPs, the order also lists global domain name registrars and registries as defendants, compelling them to suspend domains.

By January, several registrars had indeed taken action. Domains linked to the American registrar Porkbun, the UK-based WHG Hosting services, and the Lithuanian registrar Hostinger were all fully suspended, suggesting that these companies complied with the Indian order. However, many other domains remained online.

For example, the long-running German websites S.to and BS.to, which both have millions of monthly visits, remained online. This did not come as a surprise. Tonga’s .to domains have generally been considered a safe haven for pirate sites, as it generally would not comply with foreign court orders.

Rightsholders, including the MPA , have repeatedly complained about the .to registry and last year anti-piracy company Warezio even threatened to sue ICANN over .to domain piracy. And then something changed.

.To Domain Names Suspended

Yesterday, the operator of SerienStream informed us that S.to and BS.to were suspended. The operator mentioned that ‘Tonic’ informed him that the domains were suspended in response to an Indian court order. Indeed, that is the December order, which was amended a few times over the past months.

The suspensions are also apparent from the WHOIS information, which shows that the domains are put on clientHold. This is an ICANN status code that is set by the domain name registrar, often in response to legal disputes.

The WHOIS result is telling in more ways than one. It clearly identifies the Government of Kingdom of Tonga as the domain registrar. Which indicated that Tonga applied the clientHold status code, presumably in response to the Indian court order.

At the same time, the WHOIS data confirms that the .to domain management changed drastically. The ccTLD was previously managed by the US-based Tonic Domains Corporation, which did not offer a WHOIS service, nor could it apply ICANN’s EPP status codes .

Tonga Domains Restructured

Since last year, however, the Canadian domain name company Tucows is managing the technical registry backend for .to domains, with the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga being listed as the ccTLD manager or sponsor .

The structure change is more than a simple backend swap. Old IANA delegation records show that the .to registry was previously operated by Tonic’s US-based co-founder Eric Gullichsen, who was listed as both administrative and technical contact, working from the Tongan consulate address in Burlingame, California.

Gullichsen has since been replaced and the administrative contact is now Justin Kaitapu in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, while the technical contact points to Tucows in Toronto.

Tonic’s old system was in operation since 1997 and did not support EPP status codes such as clientHold. The current Tucows-powered platform does. In other words, the infrastructure that made .to a safe haven for pirate sites simply didn’t have a suspension button. Now it does.

As mentioned earlier, the clientHold status code suggests that the Tongan registrar took action. However, when we reached out to the hostmaster address at Tonic.to, we were brushed off.

“With reference to your recent inquiry, we regret to advise that Tonic has no interest to discuss or make available the details of it’s [sic] actions or internal policies,” Tonic’s hostmaster told TorrentFreak.

We also reached out to Tucows, which handles .to’s registry services now, but the Canadian company informed us that the action was taken by the domain registrar, without providing further detail. That brings us back to the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, which is the registrar on record.

No Safe Haven

While we were unable to get a comment on the record, it is clear that .to domain names are no longer the safe haven they were once considered. This conclusion was also drawn by the operator of SerienStream.

“In the long term, this will result in significant financial losses for Tonga and its .to domains, if they are no longer considered to be stable and safe,” the operator informed TorrentFreak.

“The Indian court has no jurisdiction in this matter, nor should an Indian judgment be binding on a German-language website,” he added.

As shown above, SerienStream now points its users to a backup (serienstream).to domain name, which was not listed in the Indian court order. These orders are regularly amended, though, so it might only be a matter of time before this one is suspended too.

In addition to S.to and BS.to, all other .to domain names listed in the Indian court order were also put on clientHold over the weekend. This includes yflix.to, anigo.to, watchflix.to, and 24drama.to and confirms that it is indeed linked to the Indian order.

Whether rightsholders will now target .to domain names en masse has yet to be seen, but the infrastructure to suspend them is now in place.

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A copy of the paperwork shared by SerienStream’s operator, including the December order from the High Court in New Delhi and several additions, is available here (pdf) .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

With more than 150 million monthly visits, HiAnime was one of the most popular piracy portals to ever exist.

The site, which was a prime destination for many anime pirates, surprisingly shut down in March without offering an explanation for the sudden move.

HiAnime has been a major target for rightsholders for years. The operators were believed to reside in Vietnam, which was highlighted in the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Notorious Markets report just days before HiAnime said its goodbyes.

American rightsholders and the U.S. Government urged the Vietnamese authorities to take action against the site. These calls were serious, as the USTR doubled down in May with its latest Special 301 Report classifying Vietnam as a “Priority Foreign Country,” opening the door to potential trade sanctions .

Vietnam Arrests HiAnime Piracy Ring

The Vietnamese authorities take these concerns seriously. Late last week, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security announced that its anti-corruption and economic crime unit (C03) has charged seven suspects with copyright infringement and money laundering in connection with a pirate streaming network that operated more than 100 websites.

The written reports don’t mention any sites by name, but a broadcast of the government operated state broadcaster Vietnam Television clearly identifies footage of HiAnime.to, which is crossed out.

The investigation identified four alleged ringleaders, Nguyễn Đình Minh Khoa, Nguyễn Trung Anh, Nguyễn Đình Xuân, and Nguyễn Hoàng Thanh, who were arrested and charged with copyright infringement and money laundering. Three others, Nguyễn Phước Toàn, Doãn Thành Luân, and Nguyễn Khương Duy, were charged with copyright infringement only.

According to C03, the group operated from 2020 until April 2026, offering more than 26,000 unlicensed titles across their network of sites. The operation allegedly generated roughly $12.8 million through advertising revenue.

HiAnime has already been inactive since March and in a VTV broadcast investigators browse through the Wayback Machine , which clearly identifies HiAnime.to as the target. No other domain names are mentioned.

ACE and HSI Cooperation

The investigation was not a purely Vietnamese effort. According to the Ministry of Public Security, C03 acted on intelligence provided by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment ( ACE) , the MPA’s anti-piracy arm.

The U.S. involvement comes as no surprise as both countries have been discussing the piracy problems for years. In addition to the USTR’s recent diplomatic escalation , ACE has been seeking identifying information about the operators of HiAnime.to and related sites for years.

The American intelligence eventually helped the Vietnamese authorities to locate the suspects and dismantle one of the largest piracy rings that ever operated.

Crypto and Real Estate

The seven suspects are all relatively young and some are described as recent IT graduates. The four ringleaders remain in custody while they await their trial and the others were placed under travel restrictions.

The national broadcaster featured interviews with several suspects including Nguyễn Đình Minh Khoa, who managed relationships with advertising platforms and was responsible for driving traffic to the sites.

Khoa reportedly confessed on camera to earning approximately 50 billion Vietnamese đồng (roughly $2 million) in revenue from 2019 onward, which he spent on cars and personal expenses. The other ringleaders, who reportedly worked on website design or IT infrastructure, also generated substantial revenue.

According to investigators, the suspects received payments in cryptocurrency from foreign advertising platforms. These funds were then laundered through multiple intermediaries, after which they were transferred to personal Vietnamese bank accounts.

From there, the money was used to purchase real estate and vehicles, which prosecutors allege was intended to legitimize the illicit proceeds.

‘Deterrent Prison Sentences’

This is not the first time that Vietnamese authorities shut down a large piracy operation with help from ACE and U.S. law enforcement. American intelligence also helped to shut down the Fmovies piracy ring in 2024.

Two Fmovies operators were eventually prosecuted and, while both confessed in full to all alleged crimes, they received only suspended prison sentences . This means that, similar to previous convictions in Vietnam, they did not have to serve any prison time.

These relatively mild sentences are a thorn in the side of rightsholders. The USTR also highlighted it as a problem in its recent report, urging the Vietnamese authorities to seek “significantly more criminal prosecutions against online piracy operations” while “seeking deterrent-level prison sentences”.

The first part of this request already appears to have started. On May 5, Vietnam’s Prime Minister issued Urgent Telegram No. 38, ordering a nationwide crackdown on intellectual property violations. The Ministry of Public Security followed with its own classified directive the next day.

During the following weeks, Vietnamese police reportedly opened 90 cases involving 142 suspects across various IP crimes, and shut down hundreds of infringing websites, including eight pirate film sites and 159 unnamed pirate football streaming platforms.

Whether the prosecution of the HiAnime-linked defendants will result in more deterrent sentences has yet to be seen, but it is clear that American rightsholders and U.S. authorities will be watching it closely.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Most torrent sites that were active in 2005 are long gone and the same applies to the software project from that era.

The academic torrent client Tribler is a notable exception and if it’s up to the people running it, it will go on indefinitely.

Tribler is part of a research project at Delft University of Technology, headed by associate professor Johan Pouwelse. Over the years, Tribler found itself to be a safe haven for pirate site channels, a decentralized music streaming platform, and an AI-powered search engine, among other things.

The core idea always revolved around decentralization. The software and the network should be impossible to shut down. While academic achievements are not always picked up broadly, the research project’s output is highly valued and just secured funding through 2032.

Ironically, the development of the decentralized BitTorrent client is highly centralized. It’s run by a university team and paid for by subsidies. However, its own research may offer an eventual solution to that problem, starting with a self-replicating seedbox.

The Self-Replicating Seedbox

One of Tribler’s latest projects is a self-replicating seedbox called Mycelium, named after the underground fungal networks it is meant to resemble. This is part of a larger superorganism experiment into a decentrally governed community.

In simple terms, the seedbox starts a single server. When community members fund the project with bitcoin a new VPS server launches a fresh seedbox, after which the process will repeat itself. This results in an ever-expanding service as long as sufficient funds come in.

The content being seeded is Creative Commons material, not copyrighted works. The BitTorrent seeding is managed by libtorrent and the Bitcoin mechanics by a standard wallet. Once it’s set up, it can function independently.

The combination of all these elements, including voting and payment, could do more than replicate seedboxes. The same technology and framework can also be used to set up mirror websites, to replicate URLs, or to register new domain names.

A Decentralized Digital Democracy

The seedbox project isn’t completely decentralized, as it relies on GitHub and the VPS provider SporeStack. The researchers acknowledge this and in a recent master thesis, Stan Verlaan described this as the “governance paradox of decentralized systems”.

While there is no immediate solution, the thesis does offer a solution for how a community can help decide on the future of a project, while also funding it.

The proposed solution is a TwoStepDemocracy. In the first step, users vote on which problems are worth solving or which feature needs to be implemented. Based on these votes, the developers can then submit solutions.

The community then votes on whether the proposed solutions or changes should be implemented. If a solution passes that community vote and enough users have pledged Bitcoin to fund it, the developer gets paid.

This setup sounds straightforward, but it is significantly different from how software development usually works. A project’s evolution doesn’t rely on a group of gatekeepers who decide, but on the votes of a broader community, which in turn is independent of the funding.

The Utopian Dream

The researchers don’t understate their ambitions. On the superorganism-experiment GitHub page, the project’s future vision, or “Utopian dream”, is described with little reservation

“We are creating our own society. A place citizens have FULL control, have their own MONEY, have AI that serves THEM, and CONTROL together. Unstoppable by design, self-replicating, self-hosted, self-evolving, and human oversight with democratic governance,” the description reads.

That framing isn’t necessarily limited to software. Tribler’s Dr. Pouwelse tells TorrentFreak that the project has been collaborating with the Dutch tax authority and the authority for the financial markets on trust, identity en governance isues. At the same time, he’s increasingly finding an audience among European Commission officials as well.

The connection makes sense. In recent years, Internet infrastructure and AI development have become further concentrated in the hands of a few large American companies, so Europe has a growing interest in public, decentralized alternatives.

Tribler’s research doesn’t propose any groundbreaking new technologies. Its strength lies in the combination of technologies. Whether this can scale into anything concrete remains highly uncertain.

For now, the TwoStepDemocracy idea remains a technical proof of concept. The thesis itself acknowledges this, and stresses that a larger study is needed to combine all elements, from voting to payment to development, to see how it functions.

The Tribler team isn’t letting the self-replicating seedbox loose on The Pirate Bay either, for those who are wondering. But they may have planted a seed.

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The Superorganism repository is available on GitHub . The TwoStepDemocracy thesis can be found here (pdf).

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.