May 23, 2019
Zippyshare goes offline in the UK: what a geo-block changes
A file that cannot be opened in one country can still be opened everywhere else.
In short: in May 2019 Zippyshare, a widely used file host, began blocking visitors from the UK. Files hosted there were still online for the rest of the world, and links to them kept circulating. The service later closed entirely in 2023.
What a geo-block changes
A host that blocks a country stops serving pages to visitors with addresses in that country. The files are not deleted, and visitors elsewhere, or using a VPN, can still reach them.
What it means for monitoring
- Checks need to run from more than one location, or a blocked page can look like a removed file.
- Uploaders tend to move to other hosts, so new links appear for the same releases.
- Notices to the host remain relevant while the files are still served elsewhere.
When a host closes
When a large host shuts down, its links stop working at once, but the uploads usually reappear on other services. That is a good time to look again at where your titles are being shared.
Related service: Piracy monitoring.