Leading anti-piracy body Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shut down two major illegal streaming services in Georgia.
Considered the two largest illegal streamers in the former Soviet republic, adjaranet and imovies.cc have amassed about 140 million and 64 million visits, respectively, over the last two years.
Georgia’s ministry of finance, as well as the national communications commission and the national intellectual property center of Georgia cooperated with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment to shut down these two sites which often rank in the overall top 10 most visited sites.
“I’d like to thank ACE for defending the intellectual property rights of content owners throughout Eastern Europe and beyond,” said Zurab Bezhashvili, the exec director of the Anti-Piracy Center of Georgia.
“Over the years, AdjaraNet and imovies were motivated by commercial financial gain. They hindered the success of many Georgian films, limiting the Georgian film sector’s potential growth and its job market,” said Bezhashvili, adding that ACE and the anti-piracy center “share a common mission to fight digital piracy.”
Jan van Voorn, the exec VP and global content protection chief of the Motion Picture Association and head of ACE, said the “global fight against piracy is a team effort, and this case underscores the immeasurable value of ACE’s collaboration with government agencies worldwide.”
Van Voorn cited the collaboration with the Georgian Ministry of Finance and the Anti-Piracy Center of Georgia which allowed for the “closure of these two criminal operations that undermine jobs and growth throughout the Georgian creative sector.” The executive also said the anti-piracy body worked with Cavea Plus, which is part of ACE and operates across Caucasus region and confirmed that the two websites are completely offline.
Just a few days ago, ACE joined forces with sports streaming giant DAZN to shut down live sports piracy site Watchwrestling.ai which was being managed out of India.
