Piracy Sites Surge After IBomma Crackdown
IBomma founder arrest may not move the needle
HYDERABAD: “Bookmark us or use the full 5Movierulz.skin URL and don’t search us on Google or Bing,” reads a banner on 5Movierulz, one of several pirated streaming platforms that have filled the vacuum left by IBomma’s shutdown. “iBomma has stopped working now, I watched Telusu Kada just two weeks ago,” said a user who had the now-defunct iBomma.ca link bookmarked.
A quick search for “iBomma” on Google now throws up ib***9, 5**ovierulz and movi***z Many links run through redirect services such as safe.sur.ly; others hide under innocuous-looking domains like av******d.h****k.co.uk. Even new releases such as Kaantha (2025), which opened on November 14, are available on these platforms.
On September 29, Hyderabad cyber crime police announced the arrest of five persons in a movie piracy case based on a complaint from Yarra Manindra Babu of the Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC). He reported that the Telugu film #Single (released May 9) and Hit: The Third Case (released May 1) were pirated and circulated online on the very day of release.
Following the crackdown, police registered a fresh case against Ravi, who allegedly ran IBomma, its multiple mirror domains and streamed almost every major Telugu release on his platform.
Google Trends data underline the platform’s influence. In Andhra Pradesh, “ibomma” ranks as the top Telugu-linked search since 2004. Searches containing the word “Telugu” occupy three of the top five slots, alongside “Bigg Boss Telugu” and “IBomma Tamil”.
In Telangana’s regional Google Trends rankings, “ibomma” appears ahead of Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and the IPL, and far above daily queries such as gold rate or major e-commerce platforms. Nationally, Trends place “ibomma” around 18th among top search queries since 2004.
The data shows the sheer size of the piracy audience and the challenge posed by mirror sites. Police say piracy networks operate through hundreds of mirror domains, Telegram channels, proxy sites and cryptocurrency-based transactions to mask financial trails. This makes enforcement difficult even when key operators are arrested. Investigators in earlier cases mapped dozens of new domains that sprang up within days of takedowns.
“But it should be known that piracy is not ‘free content’ but often a bait used by fraudsters to steal personal data, spread malware and carry out online frauds,” former city police commissioner C.V. Anand warned during a previous briefing.
After news of Ravi’s arrest surfaced, a Reddit user summed up public sentiment: “IBomma’s arrest won’t magically end piracy because there are so many big players out there. Though I won’t use it, I feel that many can’t afford multiple OTT subscriptions — Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, Zee5, JioCinema, Voot, Alt Balaji, MX Player, Aha, Sun NXT and more. Piracy thrives because accessibility and affordability remain unresolved. Until platforms rethink pricing or bundles, demand will persist.”