WATCH FREE MOVIES ONLINE
123movies, GoMovies, GoStream, MeMovies, or 123movieshub
A network of Vietnamese-operated file-streaming websites that let viewers watch movies for free. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) dubbed it the most popular illicit website in the world in March 2018. A few weeks later, the Vietnamese authorities closed it down as a result of a criminal investigation. As of February 2024, there are still active websites that mimic the brand.
123movies Development over the years
The website changed its name several times after being removed from different domains; it was occasionally listed as 123movies and other times as 123movies. The initial name and URL was 123movies.to, before changing to gomovies.to and subsequently gomovies.is. After after, it moved to several domains, such 123movies.is. It was eventually shut down after running via other aliases, such as memovies.to, gostream.is, and 123movieshub.to and 123movieshub.is.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) received a list of online notorious markets from the MPAA in October 2016. The report stated that 123movies has a global Alexa rank of 559 and a local rank of 386 in the United States. SimilarWeb data shows that in August 2016, 123movies.to had 9.26 million unique visits worldwide. According to a Business Insider analysis from October 2016, 123movies.to was the most popular pirate website in the UK.
Blu-ray, HD-RIP, HD, and camera quality of movies were all featured in 123movies. It made use of Streamango, MyCloud, and Openload as video hosts and players. TorrentFreak covered the site's features, uptime/downtime, shutdown, and reasons for closure both during its operation and during its shutdown.
A second anime-focused streaming website, AnimeHub.to, was introduced by the 123movies developers in December 2017 and stayed up for several months after 123movies was shut down.
123movies Shutdown
TorrentFreak revealed in March 2017 that Ted Osius, the US ambassador to Vietnam, has discussed closing down illicit video streaming websites based in Vietnam with Truong Minh Tuan, the local minister of information and communications. The article singled out the website 123movies for this action.
123movies (as well as GoStream.is) were included by the MPAA in their October 2017 Online Notorious Markets overview to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The MPAA stated that although the website was technically hosted from Ukraine, there was strong evidence to suggest that the operator was still in Vietnam. The content was uploaded using cyberlockers from multiple email accounts that originated from Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
The MPAA said in March 2018 that the website was the most widely visited illicit website globally, that it was run out of Vietnam, and that it was anticipated to garner 98 million visits per month. A message on the website's main page on March 19, 2018, announced the site's closure and asked visitors to support filmmakers by purchasing motion pictures and television series.
Rebirth of 123movies
The shutdown of 123movies, 123movieshub, gostream, and gomovies in response to a criminal investigation in Vietnam in 2018 was described as an important development in the MPAA's October 2018 update on Online Notorious Markets to the US Trade Representative. This action was taken in an effort to combat illegal film piracy services. But the MPAA research also pointed out that at least eight other nations have seen the emergence of numerous copycat websites. TorrentFreak revealed in November 2018 that the FBI had shut down WatchAsap and other sites related to 123movies, but they were redirecting users to other file-sharing websites. In 2018, clones multiplied in India despite the website being restricted there.
Other Similar Streaming Websites:
1. FMovies
2. Putlocker
3. YIFY Torrents or YTS online movie file downloading network
4.Popcorn Time, a freeware application allowing users to watch free movies through torrents on any device
