Earlier this week we reported that Indonesia’s Information and Communications Ministry has continued its crackdown on pirate sites.
The Government body has blocked more than 1,000 domain names since July. Streaming giant ‘IndoXXI,’ which is listed among the 25 most visited sites in the country, was the main target.
The site has been blocked by ISPs in Indonesia before and also appeared on Hollywood’s radar. Despite the mounting pressure, it always managed to come back through new domain names.
That was also the case this time around. However, behind the scenes, the continued complaints must have made an impact on its operators as the site has announced that it will stop offering pirated movies in the new year.
“Very hard but must be done. Thanks to our entire loyal audience. From January 1, 2020, we will stop serving movies on this website in order to support and advance the country’s creative industry. Hopefully, the future will be better,” the translated message reads.
The announcement will be viewed as good news for the entertainment industry. However, as is usually the case when large sites shut down, there will be many others ready to take its place. Taking away one site doesn’t necessarily eliminate the demand from the public.
In any case, the surprise decision is big news in Indonesia. The ‘indoxxi’ hashtag was trending on Twitter earlier and the story has been picked up by several major news outlets, including CNN Indonesia.
