The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has announced the successful suspension of MovieBox.ng, an online platform allegedly involved in large-scale copyright piracy.
The shutdown, which took effect on July 20, was carried out in collaboration with the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the official registry for Nigeria’s country code top-level domain, .ng.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Director-General of the NCC, Dr. John Asein, disclosed that the move followed a detailed investigation into the operations of the site, which revealed a deliberate and sophisticated effort to facilitate online piracy through fallback and mirror domains.
Dr. Asein explained that MovieBox.ng had been exploiting multiple clone domains to grant users unauthorized access to copyright-protected content, noting that the site’s domain history aligned with other known piracy networks.
“This is not just a case of casual infringement,” Asein stated. “It is a coordinated attempt to sustain piracy operations, evade regulatory takedowns, and profit off the intellectual property of right holders.”
He further warned the public to steer clear of online platforms offering free streaming or downloads, citing the dual dangers of copyright violations and cyber threats such as malware, financial fraud, identity theft, and phishing scams.
The NCC commended NiRA for its swift cooperation and called on other digital stakeholders, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and web intermediaries, to comply with takedown notices and blocking directives in line with the Copyright Act, 2022.
Dr. Asein also confirmed that the Commission is actively tracking and working to deactivate mirror and affiliate sites linked to MovieBox.ng.
The suspension has been widely welcomed by rights holder associations across Nigeria’s film, music, and broadcast sectors, who have long decried the impact of digital piracy on creative industries.
The move is part of the Commission’s wider “Stand Together Against Online Piracy (STOP)” campaign, which was launched earlier this year. The initiative urges ISPs, telecom operators, digital platforms, and government agencies to collaborate as frontline defenders of Nigeria’s creative economy.
With this latest action, the NCC reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding intellectual property and ensuring that Nigeria’s digital space remains safe, ethical, and conducive for creators.
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