Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "123Movies" in Indonesian language version.
TorrentFreak points out that 123movies.to, one of the newly blocked sites, is actually the most-used pirate website in the UK.
Speaking to VN Express, van Voorn said that the website is being operated in Vietnam and has 98 million visitors per month. The MPAA was in Vietnam for a global campaign dealing with illegal piracy sites.
The site has a global Alexa rank of 559 and a local rank of 386 in the U.S. 123movies.to had 9.26 million worldwide unique visitors in August 2016 according to SimilarWeb data. The site is currently using a chain of reverse proxy services in the United States, Iran and Romania to curb rights holders’ ability to identify its precise host.
An important development in 2018 was the shuttering of a ring of piracy services that had operated under the names 123movies, 123movieshub, gostream, and gomovies following the launch of a criminal investigation in Vietnam and significant industry engagement. Since its closure, many copycat sites have emerged. This ring of piracy services had been blocked in at least eight countries prior to its shut down and efforts are underway to shut down the copycats as well:
123movies, now redirects to Gostream.is, the latest iteration of which is a very popular streaming website that embeds popular movie and series content from third-party cyberlockers. The site has undergone changes in 2016-2017, rebranding as gomovies in March 2017, and then the domain name registered as gostream in July 2017; it is believed this is due in part to highprofile pressure. Gostream currently has a global Alexa rank of 477 and a local rank of 170 in the U.S. Gostream (and its associated domains) garnered 18.45 million unique visitors in July 2017 according to SimilarWeb data.
123movies has previously attracted the attention of the office of the US Trade Representative, having been listed in its latest Notorious Markets report which highlights markets engaging in and facilitating substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. Last year the US Ambassador to Vietnam also requested the local Government criminally prosecute 123movies and other piracy sites running from the country.
The 123movies.to website is by far the largest target on the list. The site is currently the most used pirate site in the UK, and attracts millions of daily visitors around the globe. While the looming blockade will result in a temporary reduction in traffic, 123movies is already anticipating such measures. The streaming portal currently features a message alerting people that they have an alternative .ru domain available that may help to bypass blockades.
“Right now, the most popular illegal site in the world, 123movies.to (at this point), is operated from Vietnam, and has 98 million visitors a month,” Van Voorn said, quoted by VNExpress.
According to a message posted on the site, it will close its doors at the end of the week. At the same time, the operators are now urging their users to respect filmmakers by paying for movies and TV-shows.
"Right now, the most popular illegal site in the world, 123movies.to (at this point), is operated from Vietnam, and has 98 million visitors a month," said Jan van Voorn, executive vice president & chief of Global Content Protection at the MPAA.
