Why the UpToBox site, widely used in illegal downloading, is no longer accessible

The UpToBox adventure seems to be over. A police raid put an end to the activities of one of the largest piracy platforms in France.

Have you ever used UpToBox services? This French platform made it possible to upload and share files, like the late Megaupload and more recently Mega or 1fichier. Like its competitors, it is a platform that has been widely used for many years to put pirated content online: films, series and even video games. To the point where the platform developed UpToStream allowing video files to be played directly from the site, without downloading them.

Since Wednesday September 20, 2023, the UpToBox and UpToStream sites have been completely inaccessible. When asked about X (formerly Twitter), the site indicates a simple “ Technical problem » before specifying that the managers have “ lost access to servers containing user files “. In reality, it was a police raid on Scaleway and OpCore, the hosts, which damaged this popular platform. It’s the media the informed who revealed this fact, since confirmed by the ACE, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.

A site with 1.5 billion visitors

ACE is a coalition of rights holders bringing together industry giants such as Apple TV+, Disney, Warner Bros, Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount and Amazon. Its objective is precisely to undermine platforms as popular as UpToBox was in content piracy.

To function, UpToBox relied on the display of advertisements, but also and above all the sale of subscriptions allowing you to benefit from maximum download speed. A rather juicy affair obviously since the affair takes us to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where the two managers of the platform reside according to the ACE.

Still according to the coalition, the UpToBox site recorded more than 1.5 billion visitors over the last three years, mainly from France, India, Indonesia and Mexico. It is France Télévisions and Canal+ which are highlighted as particularly satisfied with the damage to the site.

A simple photo shared on Twitter?

According to the Informed, nearly 20 police officers carried out this raid on Scaleway and OpCore, the two hosts used by UpToBox whose data centers are located in Vitry-sur-Seine. At the origin of this track? Obviously a simple photo shared on social networks.

In 2018, “ @Starouille “, supposed technical manager of UpToBox, shares a photo on Twitter behind the wheel of a car with the simple indication ” @online DC2 “. Online is the former name of Scaleway, and DC2 designates its second data center, located in Vitry-sur-Seine.

Strangely, the official Uptobox account still refuses to confirm the police raid for the moment: “ we have not yet had any documented confirmation of seizure of our servers by anyone “. The article published by l’Informed and the ACE press release, however, leave no room for doubt.