Popcorn Time shuts down
January 7, 2022
Popcorn Time, a once popular piracy app that allowed users to illegally stream TV shows and movies, has shut down.
The service originally launched in 2014 and was quickly abandoned by its developers – but since the project was open source, other developers were able to pick up the reins and keep it going, although it has seen a sharp decline in usage over the years.
Bloomberg reports that the group behind Popcorn Time announced its closure in an email which stated they’re shutting it down “due to a lack of interest”.
As Popcorn Time never actually hosted the content – it just provided a frontend to users for navigation – its legal status was always disputed, although often contested by the Motion Picture Association of America. It also means that it can’t really technically be ‘dead’, as others could take the code and resurrect it in the future.