Over 30 pirate streaming websites have been targeted in the MPA’s latest site blocking order in Australia. The full list of pirate domains can be found towards the end of this article.
In an ongoing effort to combat online piracy, the Federal Court of Australia has issued its most recent injunction targeting approximately three dozen streaming websites.
The court order, issued on May 8, 2024, primarily benefits major Hollywood studios, Netflix, and Apple. Australia’s success in this area is likely to be highlighted as a significant case study as the United States Congress considers site-blocking legislation in 2024.
However, the question remains: what does success actually look like?
Australia’s Evolving Anti-Piracy Measures
Australia has been dealing with high piracy rates for years. In response, the country began blocking pirate sites in 2016, following changes to its copyright law.
The system has been continuously refined over the past decade, with Australia’s pirate site-blocking system becoming more organized and reliable.
Applications for injunctions filed at the Federal Court are typically led by local movie company Village Roadshow, benefiting major Hollywood studios, Netflix, and recently, Apple.
This familiar pattern was evident in a March application seeking ISP blocking measures against about three dozen pirate sites.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Site-Blocking
While Australia’s system is comprehensive, it has not always been as responsive to address the ever-evolving pirate marketplace.
Recent developments have shown a decrease in the time between application and blocking injunction. In the latest case, the period from rightsholders filing a statement of claim/originating application to obtaining an injunction was under two months.
Despite these efforts, the effectiveness of site-blocking continues to be a topic of debate. Blocking pirate websites by a country’s main ISPs results in a significant drop in traffic to the blocked domains, although pirate sites quickly adapt by switching to replacement domains or subdomains, undermining the blocking impact.
This is not the first instance of government authorities advocating for site-blocking measures:
The Ongoing Battle Against Piracy
There is evidence suggesting that users affected by a blocking wave in Australia “increased consumption of content on legal viewing sites in the post-period following the blocking by 5%,” referring to traffic measurement rather than a rise in subscription uptake.
A study by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) found that there were 1.8 billion visits to pirate sites from Australian IP addresses in 2022, a 10% increase compared to the previous year’s research.
Creative Content Australia reports that 6.3 million Australians aged 13 and above faced cybersecurity issues while pirating, with significant percentages of teens and adults falling victim to fraud, malware, or identity theft. These statistics suggest that a large portion of teenagers do not find blocking particularly effective.
Targeted Domains
Below is the list of targeted pirate domains found on the MPA’s blocking order.
- 0gomovies.ws
- watchseries1.video
- 0gomovies.com.pk
- 123series.art
- abcproxy.org
- cataz.to
- emovies.si
- ev01.sx
- flixhd.cc
- fmovies.style
- gimy.ai
- m4ufree.vip
- moviehdkh.com
- moviekhhd.biz
- movies.do
- musichq.pe
- projectfreetv.cyou
- projectfreetv.ru
- rarbg.tw
- serieshd.watch
- soap2day-online.com
- soap2day.tel
- soap2dayto.io
- thekickasstorrents.com
- thekickasstorrents.to
- thekisscartoon.com
- uflix.cc
- putlockersgo.net
- watch4freemovies.com
- watchseries1.stream
- thesoap2day.com
- animesuge.cc
- putlocker.onl
- m4ufree.site
- m4ufree.to
- watchseries.click
- 4movierulz.to
- ymovies.cc
Conclusion
As the United States Congress considers enacting site-blocking legislation, they are likely to look at countries like Australia and the United Kingdom as examples of successful blocking initiatives.
The recently targeted sites in Australia will soon join the country’s expanding blacklist, with some sites disappearing while others may establish new domains. While blocking may offer some advantages, it seems that, overall, it is not yielding the intended outcomes.
For more information on this topic, check out the report from TorrentFreak and the MPA Blocking Order (PDF).
We want to know your thoughts on this story. What do you think about the MPA’s latest blocking order? Let us know in the comment section below!
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