American anime distributor FUNimation has filed a DMCA subpoena to the cloud-hosting platform Digital Ocean Inc. from a federal court in Texas.
FUNimation alleged that an IP address owned by Digital Ocean is illegally distributing digital files of anime "One Piece" episodes. FUNimation is demanding the site to provide any and all contact information about a copyright infringer whose IP address is served by Digital Ocean. According to the subpoena served, the infringer is using Digital Ocean "for the unauthorized copying and distribution ... of digital files embodying."
Furthermore, FUNimation requested that Digital Ocean "expeditiously causes all such infringing materials to be removed or blocked or freezes the account at issue until the account holder removes all infringing materials or disables access thereto."
The alleged infringer has not been identified yet. However, TorrentFreak, citing a "source close to the issue," reported that the IP address is linked to a popular site called KissAnime.
KissAnime, which is one of the biggest unauthorized streaming platforms in the world, has become the go-to site for many anime fans. It uses Google's servers, as well as cloud provider Digital Ocean, to host videos. These contents are offered through CDN links, presumably to make them difficult to track down.
According to TorrentFreak, FUNimation traced a CDN IP-address, used by KissAnime to stream pirated "One Piece" content, and asked the company to disable the associated link.
"Through our investigations, we have a good faith belief that a web server for which Digital Ocean, Inc. provides service, located at 138.68.244.174, is being used for the unauthorized copying and distribution [...] of digital files embodying the Property," FUNimation lawyer Evan Stone wrote to the firm.
Meanwhile, Stone said that FUNimation is chasing someone linked to sharing infringed content on a massive scale for profit. "This is not a prelude to an end-user lawsuit, nor does this involved your typical fan uploader," he told TorrentFreak.