A Group-IB, a company operating in the field of information security, announced that the closure of one of the largest pirate video content providers, Moonwalk CDN (Content Delivery Network), led to the liquidation of two more CDN providers. These are the CDN providers HDGO and Kodik, which were also major suppliers of pirate video content for Russia and the CIS countries.
According to estimates by Group-IB specialists, the liquidation of the 'Big Three Pirate CDNs' has caused significant damage to 90% of Russian web resources that stream pirate video content. The company also notes that new players may emerge to replace the closed CDN providers in the near future.
Group-IB specialists first reported on the activities of the largest pirate CDN provider, Moonwalk, in February of this year. At its peak, Moonwalk aggregated 42,807 movies and series, providing other pirates with a convenient service that helped automate content placement on the pages of pirate websites. It is noteworthy that the infrastructure necessary for the operation of the CDN provider is valued at $100,000, while the profits of the pirates could be in the millions of dollars.
This month, the joint efforts of several anti-piracy organizations led to the closure of the Moonwalk CDN. As a result, two other large pirate CDNs that shared common resources with Moonwalk faced content delivery problems. szerverek, located in the Netherlands. Almost immediately after the closure of Moonwalk, Kodik lost most of its content: out of 17,000 movies and series, only about 8,000 remained. By the time HDGO was liquidated, more than 25,000 movies and series were hosted in the CDN provider's database. Ultimately, HDGO closed on October 18, and Kodik ceased to exist on October 23.
Experts from Group-IB believe that the closure of Moonwalk, HDGO, and Kodik will deal a serious blow to 90% of pirate online cinemas in Russia. Mainly, the 'Big Three Pirate CDNs' targeted an audience from Russia and the CIS. Moonwalk planned to penetrate the pirate market in Brazil. By the time of its closure, there were about 2,000 films in the provider's database in Portuguese.
Forrás: 3dnews.ru
