In April 2011, a modest Russian‑language news portal, ‘bal‑con.ru’, ran an interview with two young entrepreneurs. The men were quietly working to solve a problem, identified by both as a barrier to book consumption in Russia.

“We found it strange that existing book websites on the Russian internet had plateaued at the level of the mid-20th century. They were incredibly inconvenient to use, requiring users to wade through vast lists of categories and authors,” the men complained.

“And yet, it was so tempting to just type the book you wanted into a search engine and download it immediately.”

The Pieces Move Into Position

In early January 2010, ideas of how to fix these problems began to take shape. Suitable technology to conveniently search for books, especially in large expanding libraries, had yet to arrive. Then in the mid-2000s, convenient e-readers began to gain traction.

“Our country loves to read, and so the demand for such devices was quite substantial,” the entrepreneurs recalled.

In parallel, another important development was underway: mass digitization of all types of books and, crucially, improving availability online.

“Our old book websites weren’t ready for this. The information on the pages was so cluttered that finding the book you were looking for became quite problematic. Moreover, people were gradually becoming accustomed to the minimalist and user-friendly interfaces of popular search engines.

“So why not create a similar search engine, but for books? After all, users value their time above all else; they value results, not sifting through tables of contents and author lists.”

I Came, I Typed, I Downloaded

The solutions to these problems, and others that would in time prove highly controversial, were built by the men and presented in a site known locally as Букфи. It had a simple but compelling USP.

“We will save the user from an unnecessary waste of time, giving him only what he wants – a link to the book,” the men recalled.

Who came up with the slogan “Пришел, набрал, скачал” (loosely – I Came, I Typed, I Downloaded) still isn’t clear but for those in search of books, Букфи did its best to provide the answers.

In the West, the answers were supplied in English on BookFinder (Bukfi), a site operating from a URL that will likely feel familiar to millions of modern-day book pirates even today. With Bookfi.org, the men would soon have an international hit on their hands.

Living The Dream

“Bookfi.org is a free electronic library. We believe that books are the property of society, their access should not be limited,” the interviewer at bal‑con.ru was informed.

“We want to create the largest library, both artistic and scientific, reference, and technical literature. To begin with, our library must be the largest in the Runet. Subsequently, we plan to expand and become the largest library on the Internet.”

After the men embarked on their quest, tracking developments became less straightforward.

Representing one half of the entrepreneurial duo, the fate of Vladislav Chikhira isn’t clear. But for his partner in crime – quite literally according to rapidly changing attitudes to piracy in the West – the impossible dream certainly wasn’t impossible, nor was it a typical dream. At times, in fact, it looked more like a nightmare.

As Bookfi developed and morphed this way and that, site variants including B-OK.org also made their mark on the growing and increasingly global ‘shadow library’ scene.

The impact of the variant known as Z-Library was huge; it would see the other half of the Bukfi duo, St. Petersburg resident Anton Napolsky, transformed from an eBook search problem-solver a decade or so earlier, into the prime target of an international manhunt led by the FBI.

Z-Library: The End of the Beginning

The law enforcement operation against Z-Library, carried out by the Postal Inspection Service, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice, is well documented, at least up to a point. Around November 4, 2022, a wave of suspensions targeted Z-Library’s domains, including the prominent z-lib.org, b-ok.org, and 3lib.net.

Within days the scale of the operation became more clear. Over 130 domains with links to Z-Library had been disabled; in time, the running total would exceed 350.

Meanwhile, news began to emerge of a lawsuit in the United States, which accused two Russian nationals – Anton Napolsky and his partner Valeriia Ermakova – of criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud, and money laundering.

As previously reported, the alleged operators of Z-Library had already been arrested in Argentina, from where authorities in the United States planned to extradite them, ostensibly to stand trial in the criminal prosecution of Z-Library.

From Little Acorns Mighty Disputes Grow

Even during the interview on April 4, 2011, signs of Bukfi’s upward trajectory were difficult to ignore. In the previous month alone, almost 19,000 additional titles were uploaded to the site. Official site stats reported 880,419 books, written by 124,539 authors, all available for free download.

While still a large collection, it was no match for the 12 million titles eventually boasted by Z-Library, the site born from Bukfi’s DNA. There’s no doubt the scale aggravated increasingly frustrated rightsholders, and fuelled the criminal prosecution in 2022, but perhaps surprisingly, relationships hadn’t always been so frosty.

In 2011, Chikhira and Napolsky revealed that their site was hosted in Amsterdam, with a nod towards the favorable legal environment of the day. Yet, copyright disputes were nearly always settled in favor of copyright holders, in part due to communication that aimed to solve their differences.

“With several publishers and rights owners, we have established friendly relations, which allows us to put popular books on the site to share. We always try to negotiate with the copyright holders and come to a compromise – most often it succeeds,” they said.

It would be naïve to conclude that friendly negotiations were ever on the table in 2022. Or that in 2011 the men were oblivious to the risks of dominating the publishing space with one of the world’s largest repositories of pirated books.

Law, Politics, and Mystery

In reality, Napolsky and partner Ermakova could’ve eliminated most of the risks by remaining inside Russia. After visiting around 100 countries without any major issues, their luck eventually ran out in Argentina. At least for a while.

In their battle to avoid extradition, the pair experienced some positives and some negatives. As reported here in more detail, a judge’s decision to extradite was obviously one of the negatives. The decision to place the Russian nationals under house arrest, ultimately served to balance things out.

During a visit to monitor compliance with the terms of their house arrest, the group Patronato del Liberado found nobody at home. No public announcements have indicated the whereabouts of Napolsky and Ermakova since their disappearance in May 2024.

Meanwhile, Z-Library has continued to operate without major incident since their initial arrest and right up to the present day.

High-Level Intrigue

Aside from the peculiarities of the failed extradition procedure, another unusual matter has repeatedly raised its head. Official Argentinian reports, in the context of Russian citizens present or with links to the country, also mention the alleged operators of Z-Library by name.

Two weeks before the pair were arrested on November 3, 2022, there was excitement on X concerning an allegedly suspicious aircraft that had reportedly passed through Argentinian airspace a few weeks earlier. It’s a two-minute, highly controversial read, and important for context.

An unusual itinerary and supposed links to Russia triggered questions for the government, with answers provided by Argentinian officials. The details are documented in at least two official reports (1,2,large pdfs).

A report published in Uruguay indicated that the same plane – a Bombardier Canadair CL-600 (M-OLOT) – flew from Leeds in the UK and via Argentina, eventually landed at an airport in Carrasco, Uruguay.

What became of these investigations is unknown and the conclusions, in the event any were drawn, seem unlikely to be reported quite as publicly as they initially were.

The contrast between the interview in 2011 and the events of 2022 could hardly be more striking. From attempting to make books more discoverable to being prosecuted by the United States government a decade later couldn’t have been part of the plan, or indeed, accounted for in the planning.

Consider the events in Argentina as part of the overall mix and the story becomes surreal; in the context of eBooks, barely believable.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Pirate streaming apps and unauthorized IPTV services have become increasingly popular globally in recent years.

Latin America is no exception to this trend, with MagisTV establishing itself as one of the top piracy brands.

Earlier this year, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative added MagisTV to its latest list of notorious piracy markets. Soon after, MagisTV rebranded as FlujoTV and both names remain widely used today.

In response to widespread piracy, rightsholders and local authorities have taken countermeasures. This resulted in several referrals that reportedly resulted in criminal investigations in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Top Spanish football league LaLiga notably helped to take down numerous operations linked to MagisTV during the summer. While this hasn’t resulted in a complete shutdown of the popular brand, more actions appear to be in the pipeline.

Pirates with Google IP Addresses

This week, LaLiga requested a DMCA subpoena at a federal court in California, through which it aims to compel Google to identify users associated with three IP-addresses: 34.8.45.110, 34.86.157.139, and 35.199.21.67.

The addresses are assigned to unnamed Google services and were allegedly used to stream a football match on FlujoTV without permission. Through its law firm, LaLiga notified Google of this activity on Tuesday.

“Google’s system and network is used to transmit LALIGA’s copyrighted works without authorization on the FlujoTV streaming service, an example being LALIGA’s broadcast of the football match between Atlético de Madrid and Villarreal that aired on September 13, 2025,” the notice explained.

Through the DMCA subpoena, LaLiga hopes that Google can disclose sufficient information to identify the alleged infringer. That could possibly serve as evidence for a future enforcement action.

LaLiga Targets App Operator

If a court clerk signs the legal paperwork, which has yet to happen, Google will be compelled to hand over information linked to the users of these IP addresses. That could include names, physical addresses, access logs, phone numbers, email addresses, payment information, and more.

Information shared by LaLiga’s attorneys suggests that the IP addresses are linked to an Android app (com.android.mgandroid) associated with FlujoTV.

The IP addresses appear to be linked to googleusercontent.com, which is used for user-generated content on various Google services. In this case, it was presumably used to stream copyright-infringing content, which raises an important issue.

DMCA Subpoenas Have their Limitations

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirmed that DMCA subpoenas are not unlimited in scope. They are not intended to compel service providers to identify copyright infringers based on an IP address if the service provider doesn’t store the infringing material.

The appeals court case concerned the identification of alleged BitTorrent pirates. The court concluded that Cox Communications is not required to share the personal details connected to these IP addresses. Instead of using a DMCA subpoena, rightsholders can request a standard subpoena by filing a regular lawsuit in federal court.

Whether Google is a mere conduit provider in the LaLiga case or if it also hosted content is not immediately clear. However, in theory, this nuance could complicate the football league’s enforcement efforts.

At the time of writing, the DMCA subpoena has yet to be signed by the court clerk. A copy of the request can be found here (pdf) and the letter sent to Google, including the evidence, is available here (pdf).

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Up until a few years ago, rightsholders complained that cable operators in the Dominican Republic broadcast their content without permission.

After HBO repeatedly pointed this out to the U.S. Government, the Dominican authorities eventually stepped in and put an end to the unauthorized activity.

However, as in many countries around the world, Dominicans had plenty of other options to access pirate streams. With the boom of illicit IPTV services more recently, this became easier than ever, at a fraction of the price of legal alternatives.

Authorities Arrest IPTV Operators, Helped by ACE

This week, authorities in the Dominican Republic cracked down on what they believe to be one of the larger pirate IPTV operations. In a major international anti-piracy operation, dubbed “Operation Domo,” authorities targeted six suspects and arrested four.

The operation was triggered by a criminal referral from the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), which mentions “IPTV66” as the target. A team of 30 prosecutors and various police units conducted over a dozen raids in the country, seizing electronic equipment, documents, and vehicles.

The raid locations include a ten-story office building in Santo Domingo, exclusively used by the operators, as well as a large ranch outside the city. This real estate was allegedly acquired using illegal proceeds.

The amounts are significant; ACE reports that in four years the operation was able to generate $10 million in cryptocurrency revenue.

In addition to ACE and local enforcement authorities, the anti-piracy sting received support from the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations.

Previously Convicted

A key detail, not mentioned by ACE, was shared by the Dominican Office of the Attorney General. The government body reveals that four of the arrested suspects were “previously convicted” in the United States for similar piracy offenses.

The authorities mention that the case concluded in 2017, without sharing further detail. We were unable to pinpoint the exact case. While convictions typically refer to criminal prosecutions, it could’ve been a civil lawsuit.

There are no public references to a case involving IPTV66 in the United States. It is possible, however, that the suspects were running an operation under a different name at the time. Interestingly, IPTV66 was mentioned in a Canadian lawsuit (pdf) filed by rightsholders against IPTV providers in 2016. However, most documents in this case are not public.

IPTV66 Shutdown?

The Attorney General’s office mentions that the IPTV operation was dismantled. However, ACE does not use any language suggesting that the operation was shut down. Neither does it mention which “IPTV66” operation was targeted.

At the time of writing, the well-known IPTV66.com domain name remains online. Based on an OSINT analysis, this domain is linked to a person from the Dominican Republic, who also owns various other IPTV66 domains.

If this is indeed the IPTV66 operation that was targeted, the four arrests have not resulted in a full takedown of the platform.

For now, the investigation remains ongoing, and the Public Ministry has formally requested four arrested individuals to be placed in preventive detention while the case proceeds. They are accused of copyright infringement (Law 65-00), high-tech crimes (Law 53-07), and money laundering (Law 155-17).

As is often the case with these types of ongoing investigations, only minimal details have been released.

Local news outlet CDN was present at the court on Wednesday evening when the prosecution filed the necessary paperwork for a restraining order. While the report confirmed many of the public details from the steps of the courthouse, no new details on the operation emerged.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Private torrent sites, or private trackers as they are commonly known, have a special place in the piracy ecosystem.

These sites tend to be more community-oriented than public torrent and streaming sites, which most people simply visit with a hit-and-run mentality.

Many private trackers have come and gone over the years, but some have been going for decades. With most anti-piracy enforcement focused on public platforms, predominantly streaming sites, private trackers generally operate beyond the limelight. Or so it seemed.

Private Trackers Targeted

Given this backdrop, it’s interesting to see a recent DMCA subpoena issued through a California federal court targeting several private torrent trackers: passthepopcorn.me, broadcasthe.net, karagarga.in, beyond-hd.me, hdbits.org, and bibliotik.me.

Despite their comparatively low public profiles, these platforms are well known and have been established for many years.

Karagarga (KG), for example, has been around since 2005 and offers access to a wealth of film obscurities. The site focuses on archiving rare classic and cult movies. Blockbusters and other popular Hollywood releases can’t be found on the site, as uploading them is strictly forbidden.

HDbits was launched around the same time, with no restrictions on popular film titles, while PassThePorpcorn and BroadcasTheNet both came onto the scene a few years later. Despite early DDoS attempts, these Gazelle-based trackers have been going strong for more than 15 years.

Filmmaker Wants Cloudflare to Unmask the Operators

The subpoena was obtained by filmmaker Matthew Schneider, who stated that he owns the rights to several movies. The titles include Do Us Part, Split: A Film Anthology, and Orlando Gloom – Always the Same. These are linked to the Canadian company Dirtbag Films, which has not been very active recently.

As shown below, the filmmaker listed the URLs through which his works are allegedly shared on these sites. These URLs are not public, so Schneider or someone he works with presumably has access to these elusive trackers.

Update: After publication, several sources informed TorrentFreak that several of these infringing URLs are not pointing to any working torrent pages. We could not verify this independently, but it suggests that they may not be accurate.

Schneider represented himself in court, but an attached takedown notification sent to Cloudflare in late August was signed by his attorney, David Bernstein.

The attorney asked Cloudflare to “immediately and permanently disable access to the infringing material” and to enforce its repeat infringer policy. Whether Cloudflare took any action in response to this notice is unknown, but it serves as the basis of the legal request.

Names, emails, IP addresses, payment details, and more

On September 8, a court clerk issued the DMCA subpoena, compelling Cloudflare to hand over all usable information it has on the associated users. This includes basic contact information such as names, physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Cloudflare must also disclose all relevant billing information from credit cards, bank accounts, or other payment systems. In addition, it has to hand over historical logs of IP addresses and information related to hosting companies and servers that are used by these torrent trackers.

These types of DMCA subpoenas are not uncommon. Anti-piracy group ACE, for example, has used these dozens of times in attempts to gather intelligence on popular piracy sites. However, this is the first time that we have seen a small independent filmmaker target such prominent private trackers.

Whether this attempt to gather information will result in any usable intelligence will depend on how much effort the operators have put into shielding their identities. Generally speaking, this is a key priority.

The legal paperwork does not explain what Schneider intends to do with the information he receives, and our request for additional details remains unanswered. At the time of writing, all targeted domain names continue to use Cloudflare’s proxy services.

—

A copy of the DMCA subpoena issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California is available here (pdf). The associated declaration can be found here (pdf). Whether Cloudflare has complied with this request is unknown.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Law enforcement operations against pirate IPTV networks are now a regular occurrence, particularly inside the EU. Yet those that manage to physically take down or seriously disrupt an entire supply chain are very rare indeed and in practical terms, increasingly unlikely to happen.

The fact that international law enforcement collaboration can be very effective is undisputed, with the caveat that success often extends only as far as borders and politics allow. One of the most obvious signs that shutting down sources remains a problem is the constant calls for site blocking measures; questionably effective, perhaps, but easier to control than sources in far-away lands.

Italy Punishes Those Closer to Home

With transparency still an obstacle, measuring the effect of Italy’s Piracy Shield blocking initiative is difficult. Increasing legal pressure on internet intermediaries and even its own citizens may suggest that alternatives are thin on the ground.

An announcement this week by the Guardia di Finanza, revealing a multi-location operation targeting a pirate IPTV network, is the latest in a series of similar operations over several years. Targeting those who can be reached on home soil, not necessarily the sources who supply them, is a common limitation of national borders; this time around, however, the dynamics of the game may be about to change.

It Began With a Pizza

Without reference to specific dates, on Wednesday the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Cagliari reported a series of search and seizure operations in various Italian regions. The trigger was an inspection by the Guardia di Finanza’s 2nd Metropolitan Operations Unit of a “public establishment” in the Cagliari region; a pizzeria according to unofficial sources.

The pizzeria allegedly screened PPV events on-site via illegal set-top boxes, which didn’t go unnoticed by GdF investigators who took a keen interest in the IPTV network supplying the content.

“Preliminary investigations subsequently uncovered a complex network, identifying a series of actors involved along the piracy chain, including content providers, distribution networks, and servers,” the GdF said in a statement.

“Given that initial evidence suggests that the criminal organization operates on a transnational scale, investigative activities are now continuing to reconstruct the entire supply chain and acquire additional sources of evidence, with the involvement of the U.S. and Dutch authorities.”

Local Targets

With at least some international assistance, reports indicate that operations were launched in at least four regions of Italy; Sicily, Puglia, Sardinia, and Lombardy in the north. Unofficial sources claim that 10 people are now under investigation following the search and seizure operations.

A video released by GdF (below) shows officers in what appears to be a private home. At one point an officer stacks what appears to be IPTV-type set-top boxes onto a table, while another collects unidentified evidence from a shelf in another room. At face value this is most likely the home of a lower-tier reseller and if the network remains intact, he or she will be easily and quickly replaced.

Indeed, of the ten people said to be under investigation, reports suggest that as many as nine could be resellers. Traditionally that has led to the shrugging of customers’ shoulders and a few minutes spent finding a new supplier.

Busted Resellers Could Become Settlement Fuel

In this case, things may go a little differently. The Guardia di Finanza describes an initiative of “strategic importance” due to a new approach and new set of targets.

“This operation represents a crucial step in the fight against audiovisual piracy. The strong synergy between the Cagliari Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Guardia di Finanza allows us, on the one hand, to dismantle the criminal organizations operating in this sector and, on the other, to impose criminal and administrative sanctions on all potential buyers upon identification,” Wednesday’s statement reads.

Raids on resellers are now the means through which IPTV subscribers’ identities are obtained by the authorities, with one reseller’s records potentially exposing thousands of customers. Over 2,500 subscribers have been fined already this year, authorities say, but that may not be the end of the matter, or the financial consequences.

DAZN, SKY and Serie A and the Big PR Gamble

DAZN, SKY and Serie A recently announced that they have obtained the identities of those fined by the police from the prosecutor’s office. So, on top of a relatively small fine of roughly €150, rightsholders say they’re preparing legal action in which they will demand “thousands of euros” from each person as compensation for their losses.

How much of this claim is set in stone is unknown. It might be a strategic bluff, or it might not. It certainly has the potential to be a PR disaster, or depending on how things play out, it may not. Interestingly, commentary from regulator AGCOM appears to be absent, but when it comes to predicting the future, a comment wouldn’t help in any way.

Despite the success of the operation, the flow of pirate streams will most likely continue, many from overseas. The question is whether the appetite to consume them will continue in the wake of a promised assault by rightsholders’ on their prospective customers.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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