If the dismantling of Megaupload in 2012 hadn’t turned into a legal quagmire, Real-Debrid’s statement concerning new anti-piracy measures may have arrived somewhat sooner.
Ostensibly legal file-hosting services don’t exist in a legal gray area, but when platforms are mindful of conduct that could strip away eligibility for safe harbor-style protection, allegations of infringing conduct can always be countered. Not always successfully, of course, but a solid judgment and punitive sentence in the Megaupload matter could’ve meant fewer people willing to try.
Pirate Platforms or Platforms Pirates Like?
There’s nothing inherently illegal about Real-Debrid, or several rival platforms offering similar functionality. The fact that they’ve proven increasingly popular with pirates doesn’t necessarily render them illegal either. Yet even without solid evidence, there’s still a risk of similarly ambiguous factors combining to form a credible argument.
Public comments from rightsholders, including by anti-piracy group AVIA in a 2023 submission to the USTR, can be just as ambiguous.
Real-Debrid is a popular premium link generator service in Asia-Pacific that allows users to access and download files from various file hosting websites more efficiently and at higher speeds. It essentially acts as an intermediary between users and these file hosting services, providing premium access to them, which results in faster and more reliable downloads.
On one hand, this was part of a ‘notorious markets’ submission by an anti-piracy group linked to the MPA. On the other, the summary of excellent features and zero mention of piracy could almost be mistaken for endorsement. A sign, perhaps, that the platform was worthy of a strategic nomination, but one that stopped short of causing alarm.
November 2024
Real-Debrid’s announcement last November delivered both good and bad news. Pressured by FNEF, the Federation of Film Distributors (members below), Real-Debrid announced new measures to tackle piracy committed by its users.
• Blocked: Cyberlockers on the USTR’s Notorious Markets list
• Blocked: Cyberlockers on the EU’s Piracy Watch List
• Filtered: Content nominated by FNEF and identified by filename
• Blocked: Private tracker torrent hashes mentioned in cases before the Paris judicial court
• Purged: All content currently cached meeting the above criteria
• Deactivated: API endpoint/instantAvailability
• Blocked: Kodi and Stremio addons, if they can be identified.
For some users of the service, the fact that Real-Debrid wasn’t shutting down, wasn’t exactly good news. For a minority, taking the theoretical consequences of the above measures to their logical conclusion, led to frayed tempers and predictions of doom.
So after the dust settled, what happened – if anything – to the Real-Debrid service?
Traffic Takes a Sizeable Hit
While a number of factors may have contributed to the fall in traffic to Real-Debrid.com, the bottom line is an almost 16% reduction versus levels reported early November before the anti-piracy measures were announced.
SimilarWeb traffic data is reported a month late, so there is still potential for a further decline when February’s data is published in early March. How much of that decline can be attributed to less content being available, or available by the usual technical means, is unknown, but one has a tendency to affect the other.
Since Real-Debrid is primarily a service that makes life easier, greater inconvenience does have the potential to lower consumption. That being said, early predictions of a dramatic decline in service either didn’t live up to the claims, or were smoothed out by ongoing work by third-party developers.
Real-Debrid’s API is apparently functional and reports suggest that third-party streaming apps are mostly operating as intended. That they are doesn’t come as a surprise, but what that means in respect of the issues with FNEF remains to be seen. In theory, retaining existing users and attracting new ones may prove more difficult than it was before; or it may make very little difference at all. While technical discussions are common, events of last year appear much less often.
Being Polite Costs Nothing
For some, however, their relationship with Real-Debrid may be over for good. Fear and panic that Real-Debrid was about to shut down last November, led to things being said in the heat of the moment that can’t just be taken back.
Determined to prevent Real-Debrid fleeing across the border with their less-than-two-euros-per-month subscription investment, some demanded immediate refunds, and weren’t particularly cautious about the language they used.
On what basis a refund was warranted isn’t clear, nor is it entirely clear why some users found their requests rejected, and their accounts immediately banned.
Just a wild guess, but when dozens of movie companies are scrutinizing every move, anyone who complains that they can no longer pirate mainstream movies amounts to an instant liability. Fortunately, just a single click away from being neutralized.
FNEF member companies as follows:
Adav, Alba Films, Alfama Films, Apollo Films, Arp Selection, Art House, Asc Distribution, Bodega Films, Cinétévé Distribution, Collectivision, Dissidenz Films, Dulac Distribution, Epicentre Films, Europacorp Distribution, Eurozoom, F.F.C.M, Facility Event, Films Distribution, Films Du Centre Et Du Leon, Films Sans Frontieres, France Televisions Distribution, France Vision Services, Gaumont, Gebeka Films, Golden Film International, Grands Films Classiques (Les), Kapfilms Distribution, Kmbo, Metropolitan Filmexport, Moonlight Films Distribution, Nour Films, Paname Distribution, Paramount Pictures France, Pathe Films, Saje Distribution, Snd, Sonis, Sony Pictures Entertainment France, Studiocanal Distribution, Swank Films Distribution, Tandem, Tf1 Droits Audiovisuels, Ugc Distribution, Universal Pictures International, Warner Bros Discovery
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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