ACE Helps Egypt to Dismantle the Region’s Largest Piracy Site

Anti-piracy coalition ACE reports that Egyptian law enforcement authorities have shut down Laroza, the 'largest' pirate site in the Middle East and North Africa. Two of the alleged operators were arrested. The piracy ring operated dozens of domains and generated millions of pageviews per month.

In recent years, rightsholders have repeatedly teamed up with Egyptian law enforcement to tackle several large pirate sites and services.

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) booked several successes, shutting down domains related to popular piracy rings, streaming portals such as Egybest, MyCima, Movizland, and, more recently, Cimaclub and Cima4U.

Laroza Shuts Down

This week, anti-piracy alliance ACE reports that it helped to dismantle Laroza, which it describes as, the largest piracy site in the Middle East and North Africa. This movie and TV streaming piracy portal was taken down by the police and the Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The announcement doesn’t come as a complete surprise, as dozens of Laroza domains were effectively taken out last month. More than two dozen domains were affected. Before shutting down, Laroza offered access to roughly 29,000 pirated movies and TV series.

According to ACE, the sites logged more than 52 million monthly visits in the past six months. While that’s notable, internationally there are pirate sites that generate more visits than that with a single domain.

Operators Arrested

The takedown operation involved 26 police officers and six local investigators. This resulted in the arrest of two of the sites’ alleged operators. During raids, which took place in August, the authorities confiscated hardware, financial records, and $81,000 in cash.

Egyptian authorities previously posted a message on Facebook with images of the raid, noting that the operation involved 71 domains. ACE’s more recent number, 25 domain names, is more modest.

Footage from the raid (via)
 

Financial records obtained in the investigation further revealed transactions of $515,000 and $90,000 in cryptocurrency from various sources. The purpose, direction, or nature of these transactions remains unmentioned.

Ongoing Battle

Commenting on the action, MPA Senior Executive Vice President Karyn Temple thanks the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior and other local authorities for their valuable cooperation. Without it, Laroza and other sites would still be online today.

“The Laroza takedown represents a victory for intellectual property rights and creators around the world. Piracy is a crime that stifles creativity and harms consumers and global economies. We will continue working closely with authorities in Egypt and other MENA countries to protect the creative marketplace,” Temple adds.

As is typical for operations where ACE is involved, the Laroza domains now redirect to the ACE Watch Legally site, serving a warning to former users and other operators. How effective this message is, has yet to be seen.

ACE Redirect…
 

At the time of writing, several other “Laroza” branded sites remain online and are indirectly benefiting from the shutdown. The same also applies to other “Egyptian” piracy portals, including several popular ‘Egybest’ clones, despite the site’s shutdown five years ago.

Laroza?

Meanwhile in South Africa…

In addition to the North African action, rightsholders in South Africa have also been very active on the anti-piracy front. MultiChoice, owner of the broadcaster DStv, announced several arrests in collaboration with local police recently.

The arrests are reportedly linked to the pirate IPTV service Waka TV. Frikkie Jonker, anti-piracy director at MultiChoice subsidiary Irdeto, said that it’s not over yet as more actions are underway. Even people who watch the streams are, presumably, not safe.

“We are actively tracking additional targets connected to Waka TV, and the message is clear: those participating in this illegal network will be brought to justice,” Jonker told Techcentral, commenting on the most recent arrest.

Thus far, these enforcement efforts seem to be limited to resellers of the Waka TV service. The popular pirate streaming operation itself remains online and continues to be accessible today.

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