Vietnamese police arrested seven people believed to be behind HiAnime, once the largest anime piracy streaming service on the internet. The site shut down in June. Now the operators are facing charges.
HiAnime was huge. We’re talking hundreds of millions of monthly visitors. At its peak, it temporarily beat Disney+ and Crunchyroll in web traffic. That’s a lot of people watching free anime.
The operation ran through more than 100 websites hosting over 26,000 pirated anime films. Between 2020 and April 2026, authorities say the group pulled in roughly $12.85 million in illegal ad revenue. No subscriptions, no fees — just massive traffic and ad dollars.
The suspects face charges for copyright infringement and money laundering. Four are in detention. Three are under house arrest.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment — a coalition of over 50 major media companies — confirmed the arrests and thanked US authorities for help with the multi-year investigation. ACE has been on a roll lately. Earlier this year they took down AnimePlay, another major piracy platform with over 5 million users and 60 terabytes of content.
HiAnime had also made the European Commission’s Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List and the USTR’s Notorious Markets list. It was on everyone’s radar. Just took a while to catch up.
The takedown sends a clear message: running a massive piracy operation doesn’t stay anonymous forever, even when you’re operating from overseas.
