FMovies Was Great for Movie Piracy, but It Isn't Available Online Anymore

In earlier eras of the internet, it was remarkably easy to pirate great movies or shows from a host of different websites and apps. As governments have cracked down on piracy, and entertainment studios have recognized what an issue piracy could be for their bottom line, it has become harder to access.

FMovies used to be one of the best movie piracy sites on the internet. Now, though, many want to know what happened to it and why it seems to have disappeared completely.

FMovies was first established as a piracy site in 2016, and by the end of that year, Google had already blocked it from being found through the search engine. In 2017, a lawsuit was brought against the website by Filipino entertainment group ABS-CBN, and FMovies was ordered to pay $210,000. Unfortunately for those who loved to pirate movies from the site, the site's problems were just beginning.

FMovies has since been blocked in many countries around the world, and it was named a "notorious market" by the U.S. government in 2018. Recently, during a hearing with the Motion Picture Association in Congress, calls for more action to be taken against FMovies were particularly loud. Although the site has already been depleted by numerous blockages, some are now calling for the website to be blocked by American internet service providers.

For now, FMovies is locked in a battle fighting for its own survival as it tries to avoid being completely nuked. The service is already depleted from what it once was, and that's true for many pirating sites that used to be incredibly easy to use a decade ago. The golden age of piracy is over, in part because major internet corporations have cracked down on piracy efforts across the board.

While it's probably not one you will ever be arrested for, pirating movies is actually illegal, and there are very good reasons for it to be against the law. It may seem like those who make TV and film come from positions of wealth and don't necessarily need you to pay for a subscription or a movie ticket.

While there are certainly privileged people in Hollywood, the reality is that there are plenty of people who work in Hollywood who aren't making a fortune.

Watching movies legally may be a drain on your personal finances, but it also gives studios a sense of which titles are worth their investment, In an era when studios are increasingly looking for sure bets, it's important to put your money where your mouth is if you're a movie lover.

Piracy isn't the worst crime a person can commit, but there's a reason it's becoming harder to do. It's both illegal, and if everyone pirated everything they watched, all of the studios that make that stuff would have no incentive to continue creating it and the whole system would fall apart.