You Wouldn’t Steal a Car? You Wouldn’t Steal a Handbag? You Wouldn’t Steal a Television? You Wouldn’t Steal a DVD? Piracy. It’s a crime.
Piracy is also a very common, easy to pull off crime thanks to countless websites across the internet specifically designed to help people download and stream movies illegally. It’s so easy for people to pirate movies online that most individuals do not even think about it when they commit the crime. Unfortunately for all those internet piracies out there, two major streaming websites have been shut down as a result.
According to Deadline and Screen Rant, Openload and Streamango have both ended their streaming services as part of an Anti-Piracy settlement made with a coalition of Hollywood studios. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment claims that both Openload and Stremango will be paying a “significant damage award,” but the exact terms of this agreement are still unknown.
Openload, which became rather notorious for illegally releasing leaked episodes of Game of Thrones, was previously labeled a “notorious market” by the US government. A report released by TorrentFreak revealed that Openload was actually receiving more user traffic than legal streaming websites like Hulu and HBO Go, so for Hollywood and content owners the site’s shutdown is a major victory. While this looks like the end for Openload and Streamango, movie piracy will probably continue.