Yes—anti-piracy enforcement against unauthorized anime streaming has become more coordinated and more focused on infrastructure, operator identification and international cooperation. The shutdown of AniWave, formerly associated with 9anime, the targeting of HiAnime-related infrastructure, mass domain actions, GitHub repository removals, India’s dynamic blocking order and a reported Vietnam criminal investigation all point in the same direction.
But enforcement has not eliminated the broader ecosystem. Domains can be replaced, brands can be copied or rebranded, and traffic can move to another service. The evidence supports a rise in pressure—not a definitive conclusion that anime piracy is declining.
This article covers reported developments through July 2026. Some events below are allegations or third-party estimates, and are identified as such.
The short version: the target is no longer just one website
Earlier anti-piracy actions often appeared to focus on a recognizable domain or a particular streaming page. Recent cases show a broader strategy. Rights holders and enforcement partners are pursuing:
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- the domain names that attract viewers;
- CDNs, registries, hosting companies and other infrastructure providers that may hold operator information;
- software and repositories that scrape or connect users to unauthorized streams;
- advertising and payment trails;
- local internet providers and registrars through court-ordered blocking; and
- the people allegedly operating large networks.
That distinction matters. A domain disappearing can be a meaningful disruption, but it is not the same as dismantling the people, hosting relationships, advertising arrangements and replacement domains behind a service.
What happened to 9anime and AniWave?
TorrentFreak described AniWave as a rebranding of 9anime. In late August or early September 2024, ACE and the Motion Picture Association took action connected to the wider FMovies shutdown, and AniWave went offline. The event removed one of the most recognizable anime-streaming destinations from the public web.
The immediate result also illustrated the limits of a brand-level takedown. TorrentFreak reported that traffic subsequently shifted toward HiAnime. In other words, demand did not simply disappear when AniWave did; at least some of it moved to a service with a different name and domain.
That history should not be stretched too far. It establishes the reported 9anime-to-AniWave branding relationship, but it does not prove that every later 9anime-branded domain is operated by the original organization. A familiar logo, layout or catalog can be copied by an unrelated operator, mirror or disposable domain.
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HiAnime was not an obscure replacement. TorrentFreak reported that it received more than 300 million visits in September 2024. In October, ACE and the MPA sought DMCA subpoenas directed at Cloudflare and the .to domain registry. The applications reportedly sought information that could help identify operators, including names, addresses, IP addresses, telephone numbers, payment information and account history.
Cloudflare’s role is important to understand. A CDN or reverse-proxy provider is not automatically the same thing as the website’s video host or owner. Seeking information from infrastructure providers is an attempt to follow the chain of control and identify the people behind a domain, not proof that every provider involved knowingly hosted infringing files.
A January 2025 report estimated that HiAnime had 364 million monthly visits in October 2024. The same report said Similarweb data placed the site above Disney+ in the United States streaming category. Those figures are third-party traffic estimates, not verified user counts, official audience figures or a direct measurement of piracy revenue. They nonetheless explain why HiAnime attracted sustained attention from rights holders.
The service’s own brand history also made it a useful example of how the ecosystem adapts. TorrentFreak reported that Zoro.to became Aniwatch and later HiAnime. Changing the name and domain can preserve user familiarity while making enforcement more complicated, especially when a site relies on third-party video hosts and replaceable web infrastructure.
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A timeline of the escalation
| Date | Reported development | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | An ACE/MPA subpoena list included gogoanime2.org. | Gogoanime-associated domains have appeared in enforcement materials, but the record does not establish a permanent shutdown of the principal Gogoanime brand or a single operator for every related domain. |
| Late August or early September 2024 | AniWave, described as a 9anime rebrand, went offline during action connected to the wider FMovies shutdown. | A prominent brand can be removed, while users and traffic move to another service. |
| September–October 2024 | HiAnime recorded hundreds of millions of estimated visits, and ACE/MPA sought information from Cloudflare and the .to registry. | The focus expanded from removing a page to identifying operators through infrastructure providers. |
| January 2025 | Similarweb-based reporting estimated 364 million HiAnime visits for October 2024 and placed it above Disney+ in a U.S. streaming category. | Large traffic estimates made HiAnime a highly visible enforcement target, although the numbers were not official measurements. |
| First quarter of 2025 | Separate reporting identified roughly 80 domains seized by ACE/MPA, spanning movies, television, sports, file hosting and IPTV. | The action was aimed at multiple parts of the unauthorized-distribution market, not anime alone. |
| April 2025 | ACE/MPA filed another group of DMCA subpoena applications involving dozens of possible burner domains and seeking information from Cloudflare, the Tonic .to registry and Zenlayer. | Short-lived or replaceable domains were being treated as assets in a wider network rather than as isolated websites. |
| 2025 | GitHub removed more than 900 repositories and forks associated with anime-streaming tools after a notice representing rightsholders including Crunchyroll and VIZ Media. | Enforcement reached enabling software that scraped or accessed pirate sites, not only pages that displayed video. |
| December 18, 2025 | The Delhi High Court issued a blocking order covering 163 unique domain names, including 9anime.org.ua and anikoto.tv. | Courts and rights holders can pursue changing domain lists and involve registrars, hosting companies and local ISPs. |
| March 2026 | HiAnime reportedly went offline. Its reason for closing was not initially officially confirmed. | An outage alone does not establish whether a legal action, technical problem, business decision or another event caused it. |
| July 2026 | Vietnamese authorities reportedly arrested seven suspects in a case involving a network of more than 100 pirate sites allegedly including HiAnime. | The reported response moved beyond domains and infrastructure toward alleged operators and criminal charges. |
What happened to Gogoanime?
The evidence is more limited for Gogoanime than for the 9anime–AniWave–HiAnime sequence. The 2023 ACE/MPA subpoena list included gogoanime2.org, which places a Gogoanime-associated domain within the enforcement field at that time.
That is not enough to say that Gogoanime as a whole was permanently taken down. It also does not establish that every Gogoanime-related domain shares one owner or organization. A careful description is that Gogoanime-related domains have appeared in enforcement materials, not that the entire Gogoanime brand was conclusively seized.
The same caution applies to AnimeSuge, Anikoto, HiAnime mirrors and other successor domains. A new address may represent the original operator, a copycat, an affiliate, a mirror or an unrelated party using a known name.
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How the enforcement toolbox works
1. DMCA subpoenas and discovery
A DMCA subpoena can be used to seek information from a service provider that may help identify an alleged infringer. In the reported anime cases, the targets included a CDN, a domain registry and infrastructure providers. The requested records could include registration details, IP logs, payment information and account history.
A subpoena is an information-gathering mechanism. It is not, by itself, a final finding that a particular person is liable or a guarantee that a website will immediately disappear. Its value is that it can connect an anonymous domain to an account, payment route, hosting relationship or operator identity.
2. Domain seizure, transfer and redirection
ACE and the MPA may obtain control of domains or cause them to redirect to an anti-piracy notice. This can make a well-known address inaccessible and can break links that have accumulated over time. However, the intervention may still be limited to a domain set or operation. A replacement domain can appear later, sometimes under a new brand.
3. Dynamic blocking injunctions
The Delhi High Court’s December 18, 2025 order covered 163 unique domains, including 9anime.org.ua and anikoto.tv, in a case involving entertainment companies such as Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., Apple and Crunchyroll. The order reflects a dynamic approach: rights holders can ask a court to address an initial list and changing domains, while directing relevant registrars, hosting companies and internet providers to restrict access.
The geographic scope must be stated precisely. An order from the Delhi High Court operates through the Indian legal and network environment; it is not automatically a worldwide domain seizure. Its practical effect depends on compliance by the named or relevant providers and the reach of Indian blocking mechanisms. A domain may remain reachable elsewhere even when it is blocked for users in India.
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4. Platform and repository removals
GitHub’s removal of more than 900 repositories and forks associated with anime-streaming tools shows another pressure point. The reported dispute concerned tools that scraped or accessed pirate sites, after a notice representing rightsholders including Crunchyroll and VIZ Media.
Removing a repository does not necessarily remove the underlying streaming service. It can nevertheless make it harder to distribute code, maintain scrapers, automate access or coordinate development. This is enforcement against an enabling layer rather than a claim that GitHub itself was the video distributor.
5. Criminal investigations and operator-level action
In July 2026, TorrentFreak reported that Vietnamese authorities arrested seven suspects and charged them over a network of more than 100 pirate sites allegedly including HiAnime. The report said the investigation involved U.S. intelligence support, that the network allegedly offered more than 26,000 unlicensed titles and that prosecutors attributed approximately $12.8 million in advertising revenue to the operation.
Those are allegations in a reported criminal case, not a final conviction. The reported figures should not be treated as judicially established facts unless a court later confirms them. The chronology also matters: HiAnime was reported offline in March 2026, while the arrests were reported in July. The later case may provide enforcement context, but it should not be presented as proof that the arrests immediately caused the March closure without an official statement making that connection.
6. Monitoring, notices and international cooperation
Japanese rights holders have said they monitor online video platforms and issue injunctions or cease-and-desist demands concerning unauthorized anime. Japan’s Cabinet-level anti-piracy materials describe a policy mix that includes deterrence, operator identification, criminal proceedings and international cooperation.
That approach helps explain why recent actions appear across countries and service layers. A domain may be registered in one jurisdiction, routed through infrastructure in another, operated by people elsewhere and monetized through international advertising. A rights holder that wants more than a temporary outage has to coordinate across those boundaries.
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Why anti-piracy pressure is increasing
One reason is the scale of the market. On January 26, 2026, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, working with CODA, reported estimated losses from online piracy of Japan-origin digital content of ¥5.7 trillion in 2025, compared with ¥2.0 trillion in the comparable 2022 survey.
This figure needs careful handling. It is a survey-based estimate covering Japan-origin digital content broadly—not anime streaming alone—and the surveyed markets were Japan, China, Vietnam, France, the United States and Brazil. METI attributed the increase partly to more users, a larger internet-connected population, exchange-rate and price effects, and the global spread of Japanese content. It is not an audited ledger of sales that definitely would have occurred without piracy.
METI also identified stronger overseas cooperation, litigation frameworks, rights-ownership data and legitimate international distribution as part of the response. That last element is significant: enforcement is not the only way to reduce unauthorized viewing. Making licensed anime easier to find, afford and watch in a viewer’s country can reduce the practical appeal of unstable unofficial sites.
Why a takedown rarely ends the ecosystem
Unauthorized streaming networks are adaptable. A domain can be replaced, a brand can be changed, video can be embedded from another host, and traffic can be redirected to a successor. When one popular service disappears, users may search for a familiar title or interface rather than abandon the behavior.
This creates a difference between displacement and elimination. A seizure can reduce access to one brand, interrupt advertising revenue, expose an operator or make a particular catalog unavailable. It can also push users toward smaller sites, new domains or different technical arrangements. The documented shift from AniWave toward HiAnime is a clear example of brand succession, not proof that every user followed the same path.
The infrastructure strategy is designed to make that succession harder and more expensive. Subpoenas can expose identities; domain actions can interrupt established addresses; repository takedowns can remove tools; blocking orders can constrain access in particular markets; and criminal cases can raise the personal stakes for alleged operators.
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A practical interpretation guide
- A blank page is not automatic proof of a legal takedown. DNS failures, hosting problems, payment disputes, technical errors, operator decisions and ordinary maintenance can all cause an outage.
- A redirect to an anti-piracy notice is stronger evidence of domain-level intervention, but it still does not prove that every related domain or mirror has been removed.
- A familiar logo does not authenticate a replacement site. A new domain may be an unrelated copy or a short-lived operation.
- Traffic estimates are not verified audiences. Similarweb figures can indicate visibility, but they are not official user counts or a direct calculation of lost revenue.
- An Indian blocking order is not a global block. The order’s direct legal and practical effect is tied to India, even if domains remain listed or inaccessible through other means elsewhere.
- More enforcement does not automatically mean less piracy. The strongest supported conclusion is that pressure and disruption have increased while the ecosystem continues to adapt.
Readers should also be cautious with sites that demand a browser extension, unfamiliar player, app installation, notification permission, payment card or account password before showing a video. Those requests are warning signs regardless of whether the site claims to be a successor to 9anime, Gogoanime or HiAnime.
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Legal access is part of the solution because it addresses the same problem that helps unauthorized sites attract viewers: people want a large catalog with predictable playback and access in their region.
A legal anime streaming service such as Crunchyroll or HIDIVE may be the simplest starting point, but no service carries every title in every country. Catalogs, subtitles, dubs, pricing and licensing rights can change. Check the service’s official catalog for the specific series and territory rather than assuming that a subscription includes a title everywhere.
For viewers who want less exposure to license churn, an official anime Blu-ray box set or another licensed physical release can provide durable access to a title. The official Crunchyroll Store currently lists official anime Blu-ray releases, SteelBooks and box sets. When buying from any marketplace, verify the edition, region compatibility, seller and licensing information; inventory and availability can change.
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If you visited a deceptive streaming site
The safest response is practical rather than alarmist:
- Close the tab and do not install a player, extension or app that the site prompted you to download.
- Remove unfamiliar browser extensions and notifications that appeared after the visit.
- Update the browser, operating system and security software.
- Run the device’s built-in security scan, particularly if a file was downloaded or an application was installed.
- If you entered a password, change it on the legitimate service and anywhere else you reused it. Turn on multifactor authentication where available.
- If you entered payment information, contact the card issuer or payment provider and monitor the account.
- Do not assume that a commercial cleanup tool is required or that one product addresses every possible threat. The appropriate response depends on what was downloaded, installed or disclosed.
These steps are general device hygiene, not evidence that every unofficial site infects every visitor. The main risk is often the deceptive advertising, redirect or download surrounding the video—not simply the fact that a page loaded.
The careful conclusion on 9anime, Gogoanime and the next targets
The available record supports a clear trend: anti-piracy enforcement is moving from individual brands toward the infrastructure and people that allow large unauthorized streaming operations to persist. AniWave’s 2024 shutdown demonstrated the disruption of a major anime brand. HiAnime’s scale made it a prominent target for information requests, and its reported March 2026 outage was followed months later by a Vietnam criminal case that allegedly involved a network of more than 100 sites. The court actions in India and the GitHub removals show that the pressure is also geographically and technically broader.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteIt would be inaccurate to turn that trend into a claim that 9anime, Gogoanime or every related mirror has been permanently eliminated. It would be equally inaccurate to treat every outage as a confirmed takedown. The better description is an escalating contest: rights holders are improving their ability to identify, block and disrupt operations, while unauthorized services continue to rebrand, relocate and redirect demand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was 9anime permanently shut down?
AniWave, which TorrentFreak described as a rebranding of 9anime, went offline in late August or early September 2024 during action connected to the wider FMovies shutdown. That does not prove that every later 9anime-branded domain is operated by the same organization or that all related infrastructure was eliminated.
Was Gogoanime taken down?
The available evidence is narrower. A 2023 ACE/MPA subpoena list included gogoanime2.org, but that record does not establish a permanent shutdown of the principal Gogoanime brand or a common operator for every Gogoanime-related domain.
Did authorities confirm that HiAnime was shut down?
HiAnime was reported offline in March 2026, but its reason for closing was not initially officially confirmed. A July 2026 report described a Vietnam investigation involving a network allegedly including HiAnime, but the later arrests and charges should not be presented as proof that they directly caused the earlier outage unless authorities establish that link.
Does the Delhi High Court’s anime blocking order apply worldwide?
No. The December 18, 2025 order covered 163 unique domains and operated through India’s legal and network environment. It can affect access for users in India, but it is not automatically a worldwide domain seizure.
Does increased enforcement prove that anime piracy is declining?
No. It proves that enforcement activity and infrastructure pressure have increased. The documented movement of traffic from AniWave toward HiAnime shows that takedowns can displace demand rather than eliminate it, so a decline in piracy cannot be inferred from takedown activity alone.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: The 9anime/AniWave shutdown, HiAnime investigations, Gogoanime-related domain actions, mass repository removals and India’s blocking order show a more international and infrastructure-focused anti-piracy strategy. They also show why a single takedown is not the same as the end of unauthorized anime streaming. For viewers, the most reliable alternative is to use official catalogs, licensed digital stores or verified physical releases—and to treat replacement domains and unexplained outages with caution.
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