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A new announcement on the site lays out a staged process that runs for more than a week, taking the operation offline one service at a time.
“We’ve decided to wind things down in stages,” the operators write, without explaining why they are throwing in the towel.
With more than 160 million estimated visits last month, Cineby is one of the most popular pirate sites online. The same operation also includes Fmovies+ and Cineplay, each with millions of monthly visits on their own.
September 5: The End
The shutdown started by redirecting these companion sites to the main domain, followed by seven additional stages, listed below.
Earlier today the second step was completed on schedule with the livestream page going dark. The initial announcement suggested the whole operation would disappear on August 26, but the plans have changed.
Cineby Live
The operators now say the last films and series will play on August 30. The final domain names are now being taken offline on September 5, with Cineby noting that this step is irreversible.
TorrentFreak reached out to Cineby earlier this week, hoping to find out more about the reason for the shutdown. The official email address bounced, however, so we don’t expect to get a response anytime soon.
Legal Pressure
The shutdown follows a year of steady legal pressure. For example, last fall the Motion Picture Association (MPA) named Cineby as a notorious piracy operation in its submission to the US Trade Representative, linking the operation to Russia.
The Cineby brand was also targeted in several site-blocking orders this year. The site was listed in the UK “omnibus” order and Canada’s “expanded scope” order, which both covered Cineby and its future successors.
In July a Delhi High Court order obtained by HBO targeted four Cineby domains. The main .at domain stayed online, however, suggesting its registrar had not acted on the Indian order.
Staged
Given this backdrop, it would not be a stretch to think that Cineby’s operators caved to the legal pressure, but history also leaves room for other options.
Previously, we have seen popular pirate sites staging their own demise, to continue operating under a new brand. There is no evidence that this is happening here. If that’s the case, visitors will likely be redirected to a new site at some point.
Announcement 2
Cineby currently refers users to legal services including Apple TV and Amazon Prime. However, it also points to the FMHY subreddit, which provides an overview of pirate streaming alternatives. For now, the first thing to keep an eye on is whether the site sticks to its own schedule, or if plans change again.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
