📰 New article from TorrentFreak
Cineby Starts Staged Shutdown of Its Piracy Empire
https://torrentfreak.com/cineby-starts-staged-shutdown-of-its-piracy-empire/
End of an era (or just a very long intermission)?
One of the internet’s biggest piracy heavyweights, Cineby, has officially begun its slow, methodical descent into oblivion. With over 160 million visits last month, this wasn’t just some niche corner of the web; it was a massive streaming empire that included heavy hitters like Fmovies+.
The operators aren’t just pulling the plug all at once, though. They’ve laid out a “staged shutdown” schedule that looks more like a controlled demolition than a sudden collapse. They’ve already started cutting off live streams and mirror sites, with the final domains set to vanish for good on September 5.
Why the sudden surrender? While the site owners are staying mum, the writing has been on the wall for a while. Between being labeled a “notorious piracy operation” by the MPA and facing a barrage of site-blocking orders in the UK, Canada, and India, the legal heat was likely becoming too much to handle.
The timeline at a glance:
- Late August: Sports, anime, and file downloads were the first to go.
- Aug 30: The last day to stream films and series.
- Sept 5: The lights go out permanently.
Whether this is a true retirement or just a clever rebranding exercise remains to be seen, but for now, the empire is folding.