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

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.

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.

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