The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a coalition of over 50 major media companies, has filed subpoenas against several high-traffic anime piracy websites, including the popular platform Anitaku, which attracts more than 100 million monthly visitors.
The legal action, reported by Torrent Freak, targets Cloudflare and Tonic, two companies providing services to websites hosting pirated content. Tonic, in particular, operates the “.to” domain, commonly associated with piracy sites. ACE, whose members include industry giants such as Netflix, Amazon, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is intensifying its efforts to curb online piracy.
The subpoena request lists several major anime piracy sites, with Anitaku (better known as Gogoanime) at the forefront. In November alone, the site received a staggering 158 million visits. Other high-traffic sites named in the subpoenas include “gimy.ai” and “chinaq.tv,” which serve the Chinese-language market and collectively attract more than 70 million visitors each month. These sites feature a wide range of content, including anime from both the Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 seasons.
The crackdown on piracy is not limited to English-speaking audiences. The targeted Chinese-language sites have emerged as significant players in the global piracy landscape, contributing to the growing strain on the anime industry’s revenue. Alongside these platforms, the subpoena also targets other piracy websites, including “aniworld.to,” “animeworld.so,” “gogoanime3.cc,” and “animeunity.to,” which together account for a total of 272.5 million monthly visits. When including the Chinese-language sites, the total rises to 374.8 million visits per month.
Anitaku’s Decline: A Signal of the Fight Against Piracy
Anitaku, once a central hub for anime fans, has recently gone quiet, with its updates ceasing in late November. The site, which was instrumental in aggregating and distributing anime content, stopped releasing new episodes and left its network of mirror sites inoperable. The silence has led to growing concern within the piracy community, with Discord admins reporting difficulty in reaching the site’s operators.
If Anitaku’s inactivity persists, it would join a list of high-profile piracy sites that have ceased operations in recent months. This includes Aniwave, whose operators were arrested and confessed to all charges in 2024, and Aniwatch, which had been attracting around 136 million monthly visits.
Currently, users trying to access Aniwatch are redirected to HiAnime, highlighting the ongoing “cat-and-mouse” nature of piracy. Despite ACE and Japan’s CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) investing significant resources to shut down piracy networks, the emergence of new rebranded sites and copycat platforms suggests that the battle is far from over.
Impact on the Anime Industry and Legal Services
While the closure of major piracy sites often leads to a temporary loss of user experience, including saved bookmarks and community engagement, it can also drive some users toward legal streaming services. Despite the relentless efforts by anti-piracy organizations, the swift rebranding and continued operation of copycat sites illustrate the persistent challenge piracy poses to the anime industry.
With piracy costing the industry billions in lost revenue, legal pressure from organizations like ACE is likely to continue as they aim to disrupt the cycle of piracy and encourage greater adoption of legitimate streaming platforms.
Related Topics
- ‘One Piece’ Anime Announces Return Date and New Airing Time
- Oshi no Ko Breaks 30-Day Streaming Record on Amazon Prime Video
- Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Previews Intense Showdown Against Lycagon the Nightslayer