📰 New article from TorrentFreak
Research: Major Pirate Site Shutdown Boosted Visits to other Pirate Sites (and Netflix)
When Brazil’s cyber‑cops finally pulled the plug on MegaFilmesHD in late 2015, they weren’t just busting a single pirate hub—they sparked a little “digital whack‑a‑mole.”
A new study from Chapman and Carnegie Mellon tracked thousands of Brazilian users before and after the raid. The results? Pirates who once flocked to MegaFilmesHD migrated 20% more often to other bootleg sites, and they actually spent 61% more time there. In other words, shutting down one giant only redirected the traffic, not eliminated it.
But the crackdown did have a silver lining: Netflix saw a modest surge—visits rose 6% and viewing time jumped 11%, with many former MegaFilmesHD users converting to paid subscribers. The boost wasn’t uniform, though. Students and unemployed viewers stayed on the cheap side, while women were more likely to abandon piracy altogether; men tended to double‑down on new illegal sources.
Takeaway: Enforcement can nudge some users toward legal options, but without affordable, appealing services it’s mostly a game of musical chairs for pirates. The real win? Making legit streaming as convenient—and cheap—as the bootleg alternatives.