4anime, one of the largest pirate streaming sites for anime content, has shutdown. Originating from Japan, anime has a huge fan following around the world. However, dedicated anime streaming sites are either expensive or simply lack the collection for enthusiasts.
Enter, 4anime. This pirated anime streaming site had millions of visitors right before it was abruptly shut down amidst legal pressure. Since last year, legal crackdowns on websites hosting pirated content have gone up. The crackdown seems to have had its way following the 4anime shutdown. Here’s exactly what happened and what we can expect in the coming days.
4anime Shutdown And What’s Next
According to a TorrentFreak report, 4anime was one of the sites that gained popularity when the initial crackdown on piracy sites started. It was listed on a site-blocking app in Australia, among other pirate websites, but it continued to stream content.
However, if you go looking for 4anime.to now, you’ll be redirected to a GitHub page with the following message:
Sorry for ending things this way. Due to certain circumstances we have to close the site.
All the bookmarks will be available via login in the next week or two so don’t worry.However, all the videos and content is deleted and we encourage you to support the industry by viewing on legal alternatives or something.
The message’s tone shows a clear reluctance to 4anime’s shutdown. While we have a list of reasons why people pirate, we don’t support or encourage it. Piracy causes billions of dollars in losses to creators and accounts for a sub-par viewing experience for the watchers.
The latest 4anime shutdown clearly conveys that authorities are now more actively going after pirate streaming sites.
What happened to 4anime? [Shutdown]
In reality, a subpoena request issued by a US federal court involved the 4anime website. The request came from the “Legacy Rights Group” and required CDN provider Cloudflare to hand over the personal information of 4anime’s operators.
The court ordered Cloudflare to hand over all information that could help track down the people in charge of 4anime. It’s still not confirmed whether the US-based “Legacy Rights Group” took any legal action. However, the timing of the subpoena request and the 4anime shutdown do coincide.
4anime alternatives
There are many free and legal alternative websites that you can use instead of 4anime. The following are some of the ones we recommend that you check out.
- Crunchyroll
- Funimation
- Retrocrush
- Bilibili
- iQiyi
- Muse Asia (YouTube)
- Ani-One Asia (YouTube)
FAQ
Organizations such as the ACE anti-piracy coalition and the MPA have been targeting anime-related domains. Usually, this kind of clean-up happens every once in a while and a lot of popular websites shut down in its wake.
There are a few free and legal services such as Crunchyroll, Funimation, Muse Asia, Ani-One, etc that you can use instead of 4anime.
