Yesterday, Download Zone, the biggest illegal downloading site, was closed by the national gendarmerie. The end of an era for many Internet users. But now, barely 24 hours after the site closed, it is already back. We come back to this episode in 6 questions to understand everything.
What is the Download Zone site?
We've been hearing about it for two days, but what exactly is Download Zone? As the name suggests, this is a website that allows you to download movies, series, music and other content illegally. These contents are protected by copyright.
But beware, Download Zone does not offer streaming or peer-to-peer, it does not host content. It is a kind of directory of links allowing to download the contents in question.
Download Zone is the 11th most visited site in Your country with 3,7 million connections per day and 105 million visitors per month according to the authorities. The damage suffered by the beneficiaries because of this site alone would amount to 75 million euros.
If the available content is completely free, that does not mean that Download Zone is not making money. The site is paid for through advertising “often of a pornographic nature” according to the secretary general of SACEM. In total, Download Zone would generate 1,5 million euros in turnover per year.
Who are the people behind this site?
At this hour, seven people were arrested and three taken into police custody. At this stage the investigation, the gendarmerie did not disclose any information on the people arrested. But according to SACEM, it is the administrators of the site who have been placed in police custody. The other people arrested are said to be members of the family of one of them.
All those taken into custody face up to three years in prison and a fine of 300 euros for forgery. If the charge "in an organized band" is retained, the penalty could pass to seven years in prison and a 750 euro fine.
How was the site closed and why is it already back?
If Zone Download was closed, it is because SACEM and ALPA filed a complaint against him in 2021. The center for the fight against digital crime (C3N) of the gendarmerie then carried out the investigation with the research section From toulouse.
Their investigations took them to Germany and Iceland where servers were seized. Then, seven people were arrested in your country and in Andorra, three of whom were taken into police custody. Other arrests could still take place.
But while everything seemed folded, today the Download Zone site is back. The problem stems mainly from the slowness of justice and procedures for the authorities. Because according to SACEM only two servers were entered, but they did not affect the site address. Other administrators who have not been arrested may well have used other servers to restart the site. We already had an example of a cat-and-mouse game when The Pirate Bay closed.
I am downloading from the site, should I be concerned?
From a strictly legal point of view, Internet users who download content on this site are in fact appropriating counterfeit files. They can therefore be accused of concealment, as clarified by the secretary general of SACEM to our colleagues from Le monde.
But the latter explains that it is not his objective to attack Internet users. It could do so by retrieving the IP addresses of Internet users stored in the seized servers. But as he declares, “the objective is above all to attack the evil at its source, and the administrators of the pirate sites, who trade in works”.
How to watch his films and series?
The Download Zone site being back, the question does not seem to make sense. But since it is not impossible that it will be closed again, we can therefore legitimately wonder.
Very clearly, as was the case with The Pirate Bay or Kickass Torrent, as soon as this type of site is closed another takes over. Often fans collect all the data and throw it under new domain names. And for the beneficiaries and the authorities, a new procedure begins.
What about legal services like Netflix, OCS or Canal Play?
However, be aware that since the arrival of Netflix in Your country, the legal offer continues to improve in terms of quality of content. If you are fans of series, you should legally find what you are looking for on services like Netflix, OCS or Canal Play.
Paying around ten euros, or half the price of a DVD, to access such catalogs is a real step forward. Still, the issue of media chronology, as far as movies are concerned, is a huge black spot. To wait three years after the release of the film before seeing it land on such services is totally surreal. Especially in today's internet age.
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