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Popcorn Time for the web moves domain after apparent MPAA shutdown

Popcorn Time for the web moves domain after apparent MPAA shutdown

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The simple new version of Popcorn Time built for the web has moved to a new domain after having its original site shut down. The site was launched over the weekend and allows visitors to easily browse and stream pirated movies and TV shows, but its presence on the web seems to have made it a big target. After gaining attention last night, the original site, called Browser Popcorn, has been pulled and replaced with a message blaming the MPAA for its removal. "Browser Popcorn has been taken down by the E.V.I.L. money-grabbing shitlords of America, The Motion Picture Association of Murica [sic]," writes the site's creator, apparently a 15-year-old named Milan Kragujevic. The MPAA did not responded to a request for comment.

"I will keep moving the website, changing domains and providers."

Browser Popcorn is now being hosted at browserpopcorn.gq. Kragujevic tells The Verge that he moved it there after the MPAA contacted the company hosting his original site. "Basically, MPAA sent me a [cease and desist] letter and contacted my hosting provider and domain registrar and ordered them to take down the infringing content," he writes in an email. Kragujevic previously said that he was prepared for legal action and would try to keep the website alive. "I live in a country where copyright law is almost nonexistent, and simply I don't care," he wrote on Product Hunt a few days ago. "I will keep moving the website, changing domains and providers." Clearly, he's following through.

Though Browser Popcorn has managed to stay alive for now, TorrentFreak suggests that it may still have problems to deal with. Kragujevic is said to have set Browser Popcorn up in a way that has its hosting servers doing all of the torrenting, therefore demanding a huge amount of bandwidth; typically, the person streaming through Popcorn Time would do all of the uploading and downloading on their own network. The initial site reportedly only had the capacity to handle 1,200 people, and given the associated costs, continued maintenance will likely be tough. That seems to be part of why browser-based versions of Popcorn Time keep failing; Popcorn Time as a whole, however, has managed to survive thanks to its open-source development.


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