TORONTO — The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition which counts Bell Media and major U.S. studios among its members, announced today it has ended the illegal activities of NTG, a Toronto-based group that made “ripped and uploaded” pirated content available to the public, often within minutes of the title’s legitimate digital release.
Also known as “Not the Grinch”, NTG has been providing movies and TV shows this way since 2018, and made 4,600 pirated releases available in the last year alone, says ACE’s press release.
“Ceasing NTG’s operations is yet another victory for ACE and sends a clear message to illegal operators working in the ripping and uploading space that ACE will find you and pursue enforcement action against you,” said Jan van Voorn, executive vice-president and chief of global content protection for the Motion Picture Association, in the release. “Unlawful piracy operations like NTG put innovation, creativity and investment at risk, to the detriment of creators, innovators and consumers. It’s why ACE works around the clock from all corners of the world to protect the integrity of the world’s legal film, TV and streaming industry.”
According to ACE’s press release, an NTG spokesperson publicly acknowledged the harm the group’s wrongdoing has caused to the creative community.
“We are aware of the harm that NTG has caused to the many people who work so hard to bring entertainment to a mass audience and we take full responsibility for the damage we have brought to the industry,” the NTG spokesperson is quoted as saying in the release. “We had mistakenly believed that we could hide behind the anonymity of the Internet, but we have been caught and have agreed to shut down.”
In the week prior, ACE said it closed down illegal operations based in Tunisia and Chile, too.
For more information about ACE, please visit www.alliance4creativity.com.
