Y2Mate.com and Eleven Other Video Rippers Shut Down Following IFPI Legal Action

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the global organization for the recording industry, has shut down Y2Mate.com. Eleven other major video rippers were also targeted and shut down during the action. 

IFPI has increased its anti-piracy operations in recent years, targeting various forms of copyright infringement. Many of its operations have focused on stream-ripping sites, making its recent action against  Y2Mate.com and other video rippers a significant victory. 

Below is a breakdown of the legal action IFP took and what it means for the music industry and piracy as a whole. 

Y2Mate.com Mirror Sites Operating from Vietnam targeted

In a statement posted on its website, IFPI announced that it had taken enforcement action against stream-ripping sites operating in Vietnam. 

The enforcement action targeted 12 websites offering stream-ripping services, which had reportedly received over 620 million visitors globally in a year. The 12 sites include: 

IFPI did not reveal the exact nature of the enforcement operation, what legal action was taken against these websites, or which other organizations or law enforcement agencies were involved. 

However, it announced that the operators had agreed to shut down the websites and to stop infringing the copyrights of IFPI members in the future. 

IFPI also revealed that it had taken ownership of several of the targeted video rippers, including Y2mate.com, Utomp3.com, Tomp3.cc, Yt1s.com, and Y2mate.gg. 

Y2Mate.com has been a massive problem for music rightsholders 

The IFPI enforcement action may have finally closed the curtain on Y2mate.com. The website was one of the most infamous video rippers, which has been targeted several times in past anti-piracy operations. 

In 2019, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) obtained subpoenas to identify the operators of Y2mate. 

The subpoenas, served to Cloudflare and NameCheap (a domain name registrar), sought to uncover the names, addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and other information relating to the Y2mate operator(s). 

Following prolonged pressure from RIAA, Y2mate shut down its services in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2021. Users from other countries, such as France, Germany, and Australia, also reported issues accessing the website at the time. 

However, the victory was short-lived, as Y2mate continued operating in other countries, and its traffic continued to increase exponentially. 

According to the 2024 USTR Notorious Markets Report, which listed Y2mate as one of the notorious online markets, the website received over 800 million visitors in 2023. 

The report also revealed that Y2mate had since lifted its earlier self-imposed geo-blocking measures in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, resuming its global operations. 

In the online statement announcing the shutdown of Y2mate and other video rippers, IFPI also revealed that the notorious site had weathered several actions in the past, including blocking orders in 13 countries and numerous listings on piracy watchlists. 

Y2mate’s shutdown, this time, appears to be permanent. While the website is still up and running, it now features an IFPI shutdown banner warning users away from illegal streaming ripping services. 

Video rippers’ shutdown is a warning to illegal site operators 

The IFPI’s shutdown of Y2mate and other video rippers is a strong warning to other unlawful streaming ripping services. 

The Vietnam enforcement is the second anti-piracy action IFPI has carried out in recent months. In 2024, it participated in the ongoing Operation 404, which led to the blocking of several stream ripping sites and mobile apps in Brazil and Paraguay. 

Victoria Oakley, IFPI’s CEO, hailed the Vietnam enforcement as a significant milestone in the organization’s ongoing fight against stream ripping:  

“This marks a major milestone in our ongoing work to tackle stream ripping, one of the most prevalent forms of online music piracy.”

 She also emphasized IFPI’s commitment to its fight against copyright infringement in the global music industry: 

“It is a first-of-its-kind success in Vietnam for the music industry, and we aim to build on this momentum to address other infringing services operated from the region. We will continue to tackle services which infringe our members’ rights, and to help protect the global music community.” 

Stream ripping is still a prevalent threat in the music industry 

IFPI may have scored a significant victory by shutting down Y2Mate.com and other video rippers. However, stream ripping remains a prevalent threat to rights holders in the global music industry. 

According to a 2019 IFPI research report, 23% of people worldwide used streaming-ripping services to access music. The issue was more prevalent among younger people, with 34% of 16-24-year-olds using stream rippers. 

Unfortunately, the threat of stream ripping continues to grow each year. A 2022 survey by IPFI found that 27% of people worldwide used stream ripping, with the figure rising to 40% amongst 16-24 year-olds. 

Therefore, despite the recent success of IFPI and other stakeholders in shutting down video rippers, their threat persists.

For example, since the recent shutdown of Y2Mate.com, several other video rippers with similar domains have popped up in an all-too-familiar whack-a-mole game, common in many anti-piracy operations.