Vietnam arrests suspects behind HiAnime anime piracy service

Vietnamese authorities have arrested seven suspects linked to the operation of HiAnime, a major anime piracy service that attracted hundreds of millions of visitors monthly. The group allegedly created over 100 websites to distribute more than 26,000 pirated anime titles, generating $12.85 million in illicit advertising revenue between 2020 and April 2026. The service was previously rebranded from Zoro.to to Aniwatch.to and later to HiAnime.to, appearing on both the European Commission's and USTR's notorious markets lists. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) commended the takedown, which resulted from a multi-year investigation supported by U.S. law enforcement.

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