Z-Library Aftermath Reveals The Feds Seized Dozens of Domain Names

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Late last week, Z-Library lost control over its main domain names. All signs suggest that the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI are behind the action, a theory supported by an updated seizure banner. While Z-Library remains operational through the Tor network, new details show that more than a hundred domains were affected by the action, including the 'GLOBAL Electronic library.'

With millions of regular visitors, Z-Library is one of the largest repositories of pirated books on the Internet.

The site has nearly 12 million copies of books in its digital archive, which is shared with the world for free.

While many people appreciate the service, authors and publishers are not happy. The Authors Guild described the Z-Library as a “trade barrier” recently, while the Association of American Publishers branded the shadow library a “notorious” pirate site.

Update: U.S. Indicts Two Russians for Running the ‘Z-Library’ Piracy Ring

Complaints also reached the highest echelons of U.S. law enforcement, resulting in a wave of seizures last Friday, which took the main Z-Library domain names offline.

New Seizure Banner

Some domains initially redirected to a seizure banner referencing the Department of Justice and the Postal Inspection Service. The involvement of the latter seemed out of place but over the weekend a new banner appeared, replacing the postal service graphic with another from the FBI.

“This domain has been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in accordance with a warrant issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(b) and 21 U.S.C. § 853(f) by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York,” the replacement reads.

The Department of Justice refused to comment on the matter when we reached out, but the banner suggests that Z-Library is part of a criminal investigation. The warrant referenced by the authorities most likely compels domain registrars and registries to update domain records so that they point to a server controlled by law enforcement.

Dozens of Domain Names

Z-Library used a wide variety of registrar services, including those offered by American companies Tucows and GoDaddy. Most of these domains point to seizure banners now.

Our research revealed that more than 130 associated domain names (see below) were caught up in this enforcement action, including z-lib.org, book4you.org, u1lib.org, bookmail.org, b-ok.org, b-ok.cc, booksc.xyz, bookos-z1.org, vn1lib.club, zlibcdn.com, and usa1lib.org.

Many of these domain names are backups or mirrors of Z-Library services. However, there are also less usual targets such as the ‘GLOBAL Electronic library,’ hosted at Gloe.org (archived). This was a service that libraries and bookstores could use to digitize their books. Apparently, this was connected to Z-Library as well.

Gloe.org

Registrars and Registries

Not all known Z-Library domains are currently offline. The login portal ‘singlelogin.me’ and booksc.me, for example, remain online. These domains are registered through the Finnish company Sarek Oy, which is affiliated with Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde.

B-ok.cc, which is also registered through Sarek, has been seized, however. This suggests that the .CC domain registry stepped in here.

From what we gather, the authorities approached both registrars and registries with the warrant. It is possible that some companies have yet to take action, which could explain why the Department of Justice is yet to offer an official statement.

The Book’s Not Closed Yet

The seizures are a major blow to the Z-Library operation but the service hasn’t been completely wiped out. The service’s .onion domain remains operational and accessible through the Tor network at the time of writing.

Interestingly, Z-Library hasn’t confirmed the seizures either. The Tor site has a notice referring to ‘problems with the servers’ but that seems to be an understatement.

The shadow library sent us the same explanation last Friday. In a follow-up this weekend, it did mention domain issues, while avoiding the seizure topic.

“The z-library general domains are currently unavailable due to a server block by one of our hosting providers. We are doing our best to get back to work as soon as possible,” Z-Library reported.

A list of all the seized domain names we were able to track down is available below. Most point to a seizure banner. This list isn’t officially verified nor is it exhaustive.

1lib.ae
1lib.app
1lib.cloud
1lib.club
1lib.domains
1lib.education
1lib.in
1lib.io
1lib.limited
1lib.mx
1lib.net
1lib.org
1lib.site
1lib.vip
1lib.world
2lib.org
3lib.net
ae1lib.org
africa1lib.vip
au1lib.vip
b-ok.africa
b-ok.as
b-ok.asia
b-ok.cc
b-ok.com
b-ok.global
b-ok.lat
b-ok.org
bg1lib.org
book4you.org
booklist.zone
bookmail.org
bookos-z1.org
booksc.eu
booksc.me
booksc.org
booksc.xyz
bookshome.net
bookshome.org
bookshome.world
br1lib.club
br1lib.org
br1lib.vip
by1lib.club
by1lib.org
by1lib.vip
ca1lib.club
ca1lib.org
ca1lib.vip
ch1lib.club
ch1lib.vip
cl1lib.club
cl1lib.org
cl1lib.vip
de1lib.org
dk1lib.org
eg1lib.club
eg1lib.org
es1lib.org
et1lib.club
et1lib.vip
eu1lib.club
eu1lib.org
eu1lib.vip
fr1lib.club
fr1lib.org
gloe.org
gr1lib.org
hu1lib.club
hu1lib.org
hu1lib.vip
id1lib.org
ids1lib.club
ids1lib.vip
in1lib.vip
ir1lib.club
ir1lib.org
ir1lib.vip
it1lib.org
it1lib.vip
jp1lib.vip
kp1lib.org
libsolutions.app
libsolutions.net
lk1lib.club
lk1lib.org
mx1lib.vip
my1lib.org
ng1lib.vip
nl1lib.org
nz1lib.club
nz1lib.vip
pk1lib.club
pk1lib.org
pt1lib.org
pt1lib.vip
ru1lib.club
sa1lib.org
sa1lib.vip
sg1lib.org
sg1lib.vip
singlelogin.app
sng1lib.org
sng1lib.vip
th1lib.org
th1lib.vip
tr1lib.club
tr1lib.org
tr1lib.vip
tw1lib.vip
u1lib.club
u1lib.org
u1lib.vip
ua1lib.club
ua1lib.org
ua1lib.vip
ug1lib.club
ug1lib.org
uk1lib.club
uk1lib.vip
usa1lib.club
usa1lib.org
usa1lib.vip
vn1lib.club
vn1lib.org
vn1lib.vip
webbookskeeping.app
webbookskeeping.club
webbookskeeping.org
webbooksnow.net
z-lib.org
zlibcdn.com
zlibcdn2.com
zlibrary.org

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