Vietnamese authorities have arrested and are prosecuting seven suspects believed to have run HiAnime, the largest anime piracy streaming service before its shutdown in June.
HiAnime provided access to a massive library of English-subbed and dubbed anime without subscription fees, attracting several hundred million visitors each month and temporarily surpassing legal streaming platforms like Disney+ and Crunchyroll in web traffic between late 2024 and 2025.
It was launched on the Zoro.to domain, rebranded to Aniwatch (and switched to Aniwatch.to) in July 2023, and again in March 2024 as HiAnime/H!Anime (using the HiAnime.to domain).
After becoming massively popular, HiAnime was also placed on the European Commission's Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List and the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) Notorious Markets list.
The seven defendants have been charged with infringing copyright and related rights and with money laundering, with four of them detained and the other three placed under house arrest.
