Top Thai pirate movie site shut down after complaints from Hollywood

[webfact]

Top Thai pirate movie site shut down after complaints from Hollywood

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

The top rated pirate movie website "movie2free.com" has been shut down by the Department of Special Investigation. 

 

The free site was earning 5 million baht a month in advertising revenues per month and had 3,000 movies available to view. Most revenue was from gambling advertising. 

 

A 22 year old administrator living in Chiang Mai has been arrested said DSI director general Pol Col Paisit Wongmuang.

 

A thirty year old Thai man living abroad started the site in 2014. 

 

The DSI action followed complaints from the US Motion Picture Association and eight Hollywood movie agents last year. 

 

The site operated using sophisticated equipment and a server abroad to avoid detection. 

 

About ten million views were recorded each day. 

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-11-08

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[CelticBhoy]

"The site operated using sophisticated equipment and a server abroad to avoid detection."

 

That didn't work out too well then, did it?   ????

[rkidlad]

The website had been up and running since 2014 apparently. With 10 million views a day, what were the copyright police doing? Ah, that's right, they were shaking down children making Garfield floats. 

[ChakaKhan]

Good thing I still got my Thai Soapies!!!!!   Stares at screen slack-jawed.....

[ChipButty]

35 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

The website had been up and running since 2014 apparently. With 10 million views a day, what were the copyright police doing? Ah, that's right, they were shaking down children making Garfield floats. 

What was you expecting them to do? They were all watching it themselves 

[kevin612]

5 millions monthly revenue is an excellent number. Of course Hollywood wants to shut it down. It is all about money.

[BestB]

Hardly surprising or a big deal, next month a new site will pop up

[lujanit]

Pirate Bay was supposedly shut down years ago yet it just moved to the cloud and is going strong today.

[NCC1701A]

Captain Jack will not like this.

[Misterwhisper]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

The website had been up and running since 2014 apparently. With 10 million views a day, what were the copyright police doing? Ah, that's right, they were shaking down children making Garfield floats. 

Moreover, wretched foreigners (i.e. Hollywood agents) had to alert them to it. And if they hadn't, nothing would've happened.

[Orton Rd]

If Mircosoft put in a complaint half the computers in the country will have to be turned over to linux ????

[wwest5829]

Yeah, well. I am out of the game living on a fixed retirement income in Thailand as I can (currently) afford a working middle-class retirement, whereas I cannot afford the same in the US. Sorry, Hollywood, I have previously purchased hundreds of videos/ CDs and have absolutely no guilt about downloading those movies while in retirement. Glean you profits from those still working.

[zydeco]

10 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

Yeah, well. I am out of the game living on a fixed retirement income in Thailand as I can (currently) afford a working middle-class retirement, whereas I cannot afford the same in the US. Sorry, Hollywood, I have previously purchased hundreds of videos/ CDs and have absolutely no guilt about downloading those movies while in retirement. Glean you profits from those still working.

For years I bought movies and tv series for VCR. They stopped making Beta, so I had to buy the same ones again on VHS. Then, I bought many of the same on laserdisc. When they phased out VHS, I had to move to DVD. I've bought the same damn shows three or four times over--not to mention that all these formats degrade rather quickly it turns out. So, I, too, think I've paid enough.

[Emdog]

8 hours ago, kevin612 said:

5 millions monthly revenue is an excellent number. Of course Hollywood wants to shut it down. It is all about money.

It takes money to make money, and films. Did you work for free, or do you work for free? Well then...

If your wife is going to hook on the side, you should at least a piece of the action.... if she is giving it away, well then we do have a problem ????

[Fred white]

9 hours ago, rkidlad said:

The website had been up and running since 2014 apparently. With 10 million views a day, what were the copyright police doing? Ah, that's right, they were shaking down children making Garfield floats. 

It's easier to shake down a 15 year old girl

[observer90210]

Considering the millions made by all the Hollywood gang involved, I have absolutely no mercy in downloading freebie blockbusters....

Edited November 8, 2019 by observer90210

[sillyfool]

47 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

Considering the millions made by all the Hollywood gang involved, I have absolutely no mercy in downloading freebie blockbusters....

billions. 

[meand]

Remember the regional encoded DVD's and players? This is how these people have done business for decades. You could buy a legit DVD in Asia and it would not work when you got home! 

 

They will get everything they deserve 10 times over. 

[LomSak27]

48 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

Considering the millions made by all the Hollywood gang involved, I have absolutely no mercy in downloading freebie blockbusters....

You should be happy then that they are going broke. 

[beautifulthailand99]

That reminds me I haven't yiffied for a while.........

[zydeco]

2 hours ago, Emdog said:

It takes money to make money, and films. Did you work for free, or do you work for free? Well then...

If your wife is going to hook on the side, you should at least a piece of the action.... if she is giving it away, well then we do have a problem ????

How long do people get to claim ownership for products they never had anything to do with?  The US Congress has continually extended copyright provisions over the years, even taking films and music that were already in the public domain and putting them back under copyright. With the effect, by the way, that many of the remaining old films have been lost or destroyed because archivists and restorers have lost the right to restore and exhibit what had been open to the public. And all of this to protect Mickey Mouse (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act ). Not only that, but the US is forcing other countries to conform to American law on copyrights, as they did with Canada in the latest USMC agreement. Just go to Project Gutenberg Canada http://gutenberg.ca/index.html to see how books already in the Canadian public domain are being threatened with being put back under copyright (meaning, btw, that many if not most of these books will simply go out of print, because there is no viable commercial market for them). 

[gamesgplayemail]

12 hours ago, kevin612 said:

5 millions monthly revenue is an excellent number. Of course Hollywood wants to shut it down. It is all about money.

 

it's just impossible to make so much with such a website.

 

 

[Somtamnication]

Very sad news. What will the DSI watch now?

[GinBoy2]

10 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Yeah, well. I am out of the game living on a fixed retirement income in Thailand as I can (currently) afford a working middle-class retirement, whereas I cannot afford the same in the US. Sorry, Hollywood, I have previously purchased hundreds of videos/ CDs and have absolutely no guilt about downloading those movies while in retirement. Glean you profits from those still working.

Thats just BS.

 

By your logic, just go into your local supermarket and take what you want

 

It appears that you believe that in retirement you are somehow entitled to steal a gallon of milk, since you purchased gallons of milk when you were working! 

 

Ridiculous argument to justify stealing

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

A thirty year old Thai man living abroad started the site in 2014.

Only 5 years in operation... that's a lot of revenue for someone, but it took a "call from Hollywood" saying do something to get action!

Thailand bluster about many things but underneath are worried about upsetting USA anymore, Thailand could be off the movie makers list if they're not careful.

[metisdead]

A post advocating the continuation of illegal activities has been removed. 

[J Town]

I had an extensive DVD collection, legitimately purchased over the years. When I first moved to Thailand, none of them would play on a DVD player I bought in Thailand because of some <deleted> zone block. I'm now a happy pirate. Arrrrrrrrrrr

[Fred white]

21 hours ago, JohnDone said:

 

 

 

Good to know that you, holier than thou foreigners, would never ever consider using some freely available sources on the internet like torrents or free movie sites.

 

Does pathetic hypocrites ring a bell to you?

I'm not a holier than thou my comment was a reply to rkidlad's comment I don't care if people download movies so no I am not a hypocrite

[Number 6]

Biometrics found the site

[Ventenio]

so they are making a minimum of 60 million baht a year, split a few ways.  one kid is 22, the other 30, whatever..... 

 

make that money young.........money is GOD.  if you are crying over 20,000 baht a month while junior is buying houses overseas every few months......it's time to think of more ways to make that money.  make that money!!!!  

 

but do it legally and don't get arrested.  i missed that part before......i'm sure no jail.  fine.  big fine.  but they will keep a ton of it.  

Edited November 9, 2019 by Ventenio