By Ho Fai Mok, Vice President, Content Protection Legal, Asia Pacific
Much has been said by now about the landmark takedown of the Fmovies syndicate by the Vietnamese authorities, supported by ACE as well as our partners from both the public and private sectors. Much of the coverage, including this Los Angeles Times article, has focused on the fact that the Fmovies ring is the largest syndicate in the world, and indeed, the scale is truly staggering: More than 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024, and nearly 374 million monthly visits.
It’s remarkable that a piracy ring of this scale could be toppled. An equally remarkable part of this story, however, is that the takedown took place in Vietnam.
Rightsholders around the world have long expressed concern regarding Vietnam’s role as a global exporter and leading source of online piracy. Most readers who are not in the copyright enforcement space may be surprised to know that until this year, there had been no reported criminal copyright convictions under the Vietnamese Penal Code. Article 225 of the Penal Code – the relevant article of the penal code addressing copyright offences – itself had only come into force in 2015.
Against this backdrop, 2024 has been a truly significant year in Vietnam for copyright enforcement. The year began first with the groundbreaking criminal conviction of the BestbuyIPTV operator in the Hanoi People’s Court. This was followed shortly by the criminal conviction of the BiluTVT operators in the Quang Binh Provincial Court. And now, the authorities have successfully shut down the biggest ring of piracy sites in the world; a truly remarkable string of successes given the dearth of enforcement activity before this year. The Vietnamese Courts’ and Vietnamese law enforcement units’ efforts and successes in this regard deserve recognition and support.
The fight against piracy is, of course, not over. Vietnam remains on the Special 301 and a number of sites operated out of Vietnam are on USTR’s “Notorious Markets” List. We are well aware that some of the most egregious piracy sites online are run by operators and syndicates also based out of Vietnam. As groundbreaking as the Fmovies shutdown was, more work will need to be done.
Now is the time to elevate the conversation about protecting intellectual property rights in Vietnam, and to explore ways to curb the proliferation of illicit streaming operations there. Opportunities exist for capacity building in Vietnam to support law enforcement in handling large-scale digital investigations and prosecutions. And the Fmovies takedown opens the door for future collaboration and information-sharing between ACE and Vietnamese authorities as we unite in protecting the rights of creators everywhere.
