Piracy surges as people search for free films and TV shows to watch online in lockdown

Online piracy has surged in popularity since countries around the world began enforcing lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, new figures have revealed. Traffic to illegal streaming and download sites rose by nearly 60 per cent between February and March, as people sought ways to watch films and TV shows for free. Piracy tracking firm Muso registered more than 300 million visits to piracy sites in the UK, and more than 1 billion in the US. "Piracy or unlicensed consumption trends are closely linked to paid-for or licensed content," said Muso CEO Andy Chatterley. "Just as Netflix has seen large subscriber gains, we have seen a significant spike in visits to film piracy sites."