Matrix Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 PopcornTime.sh, considered by many to be the 'official' successor to the original Popcorn Time application, has serious domain issues. According to public records, its domain registrar has issued an order to its registry to deactivate its DNS access. Separately, an as-yet unconfirmed report suggests that an arrest in Tunisia may be connected to the current downtime. In 2014, the application known as Popcorn Time burst onto the scene to transform the BitTorrent landscape. Instead of accessing torrent files from indexing platforms such as The Pirate Bay to download them in a comparatively boring regular client, users were given a beautiful, Netflix-style, all-in-one solution. Very quickly, Popcorn Time became a smash-hit sensation but it also attracted movie and TV show companies determined to shut it down. While some success was booked on this front, Popcorn Time’s open-source nature meant that it could be replicated by enthusiasts, such as those who ultimately ended up operating from PopcornTime.sh. While there are other variants, Reddit’s /r/popcorntime considers the .sh domain as offering the ‘official’ version of PopcornTime and the site was previously linked from the official Github repository. As the image below shows, the website and associated services attached to the app via the .sh domain were working just fine on November 3, 2019. All systems were functioning Nov 3, 2019 The situation today, however, is very much different. PopcornTime.sh and all the sub-domains which allow its app to work as intended have been rendered inaccessible. According to WHOIS data, late on Monday the domain was updated. It isn’t due to expire for another year but its domain status is currently listed as “clientHold”, which can signal bad news. PopcornTime.sh – clientHold ‘ClientHold’ status is set by the domain registrar, 101domain.com in this case, and informs the registry not to activate the DNS for PopcornTime.sh. As a result, the website in question has been rendered inaccessible. “This status code tells your domain’s registry to not activate your domain in the DNS and as a consequence, it will not resolve,” ICANN’s official advice reads. “It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes, non-payment, or when your domain is subject to deletion.” We have been unable to officially confirm why PopcornTime.sh has been given this treatment but in the past, clientHold status has proven problematic for domains and has sometimes signaled legal issues. Information received earlier today adds at least some weight to that theory. This afternoon we received an email from the folks at InternetProtocol.co who, citing anonymous police sources, claim that the site’s operator may (and that’s a pretty big ‘may’) have been arrested in Tunisia. The publication also posted an image that supposedly shows items confiscated as evidence as part of a “raid” carried out in “cooperation with some international copyright organization.” Unable to confirm the allegations from any other source and given its worldwide position on anti-piracy enforcement, TorrentFreak contacted the Alliance For Creativity and Entertainment seeking confirmation or indeed denial that it was involved in this alleged and as-yet unconfirmed action. We were told by their spokesperson that at this point in time, he wasn’t able to provide us with any information. Although the moderators of the official PopcornTime sub on Reddit claim to have no direct connection with the software distributed and maintained from the .sh domain, TorrentFreak requested comments from all of them. At the time of publication, however, we were yet to hear back. Whether the domain issue will be solved in time is unclear but that seems largely reliant on whether the information about a supposed arrest in North Africa holds up as credible. Similar action in that region is extremely rare, perhaps unheard of as far as popular applications go, so there will be a waiting game for the full picture to emerge, if it ever does. Last year, PopcornTime.sh was targeted by movie companies seeking the identity of its operator but what ultimately became of that remains unclear. source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zanderthunder Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 The fate of Popcorn Time apps installed in Android and iOS is still unclear, even this news has just come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberloner Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 the website is gone.... but the app is still working PopcornTime.sh is the best flavour popcorn of all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberloner Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 it is back online.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zanderthunder Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 41 minutes ago, cyberloner said: it is back online.... Hail PopcornTime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 2 hours ago, cyberloner said: it is back online.... They a open source Kodi addon for it too All they do stream content from YTS.AG groups website what makes PopcornTime.sh better than the others Popcorn apps is the fact its open source the others can't be trusted . You can set up Kodi and stream from most all torrent sites and many ddl blogs with addons. APKs , Apps and Kodi Addons are now a dime a dozen Popcorn Time use to be big back in 2014 when it was new . https://torrentfreak.com/open-source-torrent-streaming-a-netflix-for-pirates-140308/ The main Popcorn Time fork shut down in 2015 when the Real YIFY did . https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-we-shut-down-ytsyify-and-popcorn-time-151103/ The rest of them fork the app and it uses YTS.AG instead the bad thing about Popcorn Time it depends on it own servers for the media data it goes down and the app becomes useless . you can set up Plex and have your own server . They some Kodi addons that depend on the addon devs server when they pull the switch they stop working then but they are others that use all 3rd party sources like IMDB , TMDB ,TVDB , Fanart and Trakt and they scrape blogs and torrent sites they dont go down unless websites change there API so they last along time after the DEV close shop and another dev can edit the code or write new scrappers and get it going again really easy . All is open source . The Nice thing about Kodi is it's massive amount of content providers , They tons of legal addons for legit sites and tons of no so legit addons for pirate sites . Kodi addons and other APK mostly took POPCORN's place but they even a POPCORN Time for KODI addon for years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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