Aniwatch Added to U.S. Piracy Watchlist for Alleged Copyright Violations. USTR(United States Trade Representative) has released annual.”Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List). The list is described as “online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy”. USTR Claims Aniwatch as rebranded version of Zoro.to that was shut in July 2023.
Alongside Aniwatch 38 other websites are banned.
Aniwatch Ban- Servers at Vietnam
Aniwatch servers are operated out of vietnam. Operators using reverse proxy to hide the location. In past six months Aniwatch became one of the most popular Anime streaming sites.
According to Japan Times online piracy across Japanese entertainment amounted to lose $15 billion in 2021. Comprising Manga, Anime and Games.
In January, the open-source manga reader Tachiyomi stopped development, coinciding with Kakao’s December claim of identifying leading manga piracy websites.
Recognizing the impact of piracy, Shueisha is implementing simulpubs for faster global releases and committing to consider international fan opinions more heavily in future content decisions.
Pirate Streaming websites are favourite to fans but it hurts pockets of creators.
