pac-man-pirate-movie2k.toAs the pirate world turns….

The mystery (and confusion) deepens over the fate of the popular pirate movie site Movie2k.to.  Two weeks ago it suddenly disappeared from the web.  Speculation was that it had something to do with efforts in the UK to block pirate websites.  A few days later the site appeared to be reborn as movie4k.to but now, according to a report on a German-language site www.20min.ch the real site is now found at movie2k.tl and the site owners claim movie4k.to is a fraud.  Imagine that, a pirate site subjected to fraudulent behavior.  Karma….oh, but I digress.  Here’s the skinny (translated badly from the original German):

Recently, Movie2k.to than Movie2k.tl again on the net. The operators claim to be the real Movie2k. At the same time they warn other websites Movie2k look confusingly similar. A name is not mentioned, but apparently Movie4k is meant. There, one could be captured viruses, write the supposedly real Movie2k operators.

The virus problem generally applies to free download and streaming portals: “The problem is the integration of advertising banners, the malicious code redirects or contain” says Marc Rubin of the Swiss Pirate Party.

Despite similar design, there is a marked difference between the two competing streaming sites: English-language series and porn movies no longer offers Movie2k.tl the time being.

What’s particularly rich in this story is that it appears, from what I can tell reading the translated account, it seems that the movie2k.to site was actually pirated by the operators of movie4k.to.  I must admit, you have to chuckle just a bit when pirate sites start eating their own.  Here’s more from the 20min.ch story:

The question remains in the room, why the supposedly real Movie2k-founder no longer use their old web address. An explanation: In Movie4k.to and Movie2k.tl it could be to free-riders, who want to benefit from the popularity of the name. A similar assumption has MarcRubin of the Pirate Party: “. Anyone can copy web content, embed the links to the movie streams and can refer to its own Internet address on” Mostly supervising a team a site like Movie2k. “Maybe there were quarrels and one of the sides is an offshoot,” speculated the pirate.

No matter how this all plays out, it’s nice to see a pirate website getting a taste of its own medicine.