The Rise and Fall of YIFY Torrents

In Shorts:

• YIFY is a digital file segment. Like MP4, AVI, etc. YIFY became YTS, a torrent website.
• Users can post high-quality movie files to the site for others to download and save to avoid theater tickets.
• Hollywood has always resented YIFY because it distributes new and old films and deprives legitimate companies of theatrical ticket and DVD sales.

YIFY Torrents, also known as YTS, burst onto the torrenting scene in 2011 and quickly became one of the most popular torrent sites for downloading movies. With its promise of high-quality video paired with small file sizes, YIFY amassed millions of loyal users in just a few years. However, legal troubles eventually forced the site to shut down in 2015. Although the original YIFY website is gone, the brand lives on through various mirror sites and imitators. YIFY revolutionized movie piracy and inspired many to follow in its footsteps. Even now, years after its demise, YIFY remains one of the most recognizable names in torrenting.

The Origins of YIFY

YIFY was founded in 2011 by Yiftach Swery, an IT professional living in New Zealand. Swery, known online as “YIFY,” started the site as a hobby and way to share his movie encodes with others. YIFY’s initial popularity stemmed from its relatively small but high-quality video files. Using efficient video encoding techniques, YIFY was able to compress movies down to just a few hundred megabytes without significantly reducing visual quality. This enabled faster download speeds at a time when many users still had slow internet connections. As the site grew, YIFY began recruiting more encoders and releasing more torrents. At its peak, the site was uploading multiple torrents per day, often for movies still playing in theaters. YIFY also developed an automated encoding pipeline that could process videos quickly after their Blu-ray or streaming releases.

Why YIFY Torrents Was So Popular?

Several key factors contributed to YIFY’s meteoric rise in popularity between 2011-2015:

• High-Quality Encodes: As mentioned, YIFY squeezes movie files down to surprisingly small sizes. This lets users download full Blu-ray quality movies in just 700-800MB, for example. YIFY struck a perfect balance between file size and visual fidelity.
• Fast Download Speeds: Those smaller files meant faster downloads compared to other torrent groups. This benefit was amplified by YIFY’s huge user base and plentiful seeders.
• New Movie Releases: YIFY put up torrents for new movies extremely fast, often before retail Blu-ray discs even hit store shelves. Many films leaked from industry insiders.
• Easy to Use Site: The YTS site itself was well organized and easy to search and browse. Sorting functions, filtering, and a clean interface made it very user-friendly.
• Strong Community: Positive word-of-mouth and chat forums like Reddit helped drive more users to YIFY. People wanted to download the same popular movies their friends talked about.

With all those advantages working in tandem, YIFY built up a head of steam and didn’t slow down until legal trouble forced it to.

The YIFY legality argument

A nice point from YIFY’s creator. He raised the legality of Netflix’s streaming service. The program lets users watch unlimited movies. This argument may be refuted because it is a lawful monthly membership service. Counterargument: People routinely share Netflix login information with non-subscriber friends and family. Is this legal? If there is free internet and individuals are prepared to share their account information, they will access it illegally. Some may find this reasoning persuasive, but do two wrongs always create a right? Another point is that torrenting a movie is laborious. The participants get nothing and are doing it for the public. It’s another moral justification for piracy.

YIFY—what happened?

YIFY was stopped down for illegally. It died like LimeWire and Pirate Bay. Offering copyrighted information in data form is similar to creating an identical copy of a text and giving it out for free. It deprives resale rights holders of earnings from selling and distributing their property. Stealing is illegal and punished by fines or jail time. Several court decisions demonstrate the severity of piracy penalties. The morality of downloading torrents is up to the individual, but it’s illegal.

The Demise of YTS

YIFY’s immense scope and blatant copyright infringement eventually invited legal scrutiny. The site operated out in the open, not even trying to hide or go dark like more covert piracy groups. This audacity proved to be its undoing. In October 2015, YIFY settled a lawsuit filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

The exact terms were not disclosed publicly due to a non-disclosure agreement. However, YIFY agreed to cease operations permanently as part of the settlement. The MPAA likely targeted YIFY Torrents because of its size and influence. Taking down such a massive player sent shockwaves through the piracy world, even if plenty of other sites continued business as usual. After being offline for a couple months, the old YTS.to domain now redirects users to the MPAA’s official “Where to Watch” page for finding legal streaming alternatives.

Life After Disbanded for YIFY

While the original YIFY team disbanded after the lawsuit, the name and spirit of YIFY lives on in numerous mirror sites and imitators that have sprung up since 2015. Most major torrent sites will include YIFY or YTS in their movie categories now. However, quality and authenticity varies wildly. None of these mirrors have direct connections to the original YIFY group as far as anyone knows.

Some popular domains that brand themselves as YIFY include:

• YTS.AM
• YTS.AG
• YIFY Torrents
• 1337x (has a dedicated YIFY category)

Most of these sites continue uploading small, high-quality movie encodes reminiscent of the early YIFY days. They often label releases with YIFY or YTS regardless of the actual source. The proliferation of fakes and wannabes has led to a measurable dip in quality control since 2015. Still, the YIFY name retains so much goodwill that other groups try to bank on it, albeit without permission.

Is Downloading YIFY Torrents Legal?

No, downloading copyright-protected content via torrents is generally illegal in most countries. YIFY made no effort to hide that the site offered pirated movies — it was obvious to anyone visiting. However, merely downloading YIFY torrents for personal use is unlikely to be discovered or prosecuted in many jurisdictions. Small-time casual pirates are not high on copyright watchdogs’ priority list. They aim legal firepower at large operations like YIFY itself. That said, there are always risks inherent to piracy. Users could be monitored by their ISP or identified by anti-piracy outfits. Certain countries also have harsher laws than others when it comes to this kind of infringement. It’s safest to avoid piracy altogether. But those insistent on sailing the high seas can take steps to mitigate risks, like using a VPN.

How to Download YIFY Torrents Safely

If you do decide to download torrents from YIFY mirrors, here are some tips to stay safer:

• Always use a VPN to hide your IP address and internet traffic from snooping ISPs, watchdogs, etc. This adds a layer of privacy.
• Use a reputable antivirus program to scan for malware. Fake torrents can infect devices.
• Stick to trusted uploaders instead of random releases from unknown people. This helps avoid virus risks.
• Avoid opening suspicious ads, links, or attachments you encounter on torrent sites. These can transmit malware.

Note: Don’t share your downloads via P2P after finishing. Seeding is most likely to get you noticed. No downloading method is 100% foolproof or hidden. But taking the right precautions will cut down on risk substantially. We recommend always using a premium VPN for starters.

YIFY Alternatives Still Active in 2024

If proxy mirrors make you uneasy, dozens of other great torrent sites exist beyond the YIFY name. Here are some of the most popular options active right now:

Housemovie

We think Housemovie will become a household name if it continues! Our favorite Yifi alternatives are on this online cinema. Movies include comprehensive box covers and information, easy-to-find links, and lots of content!

There are no pop-ups, overlay advertisements, or quizzes/surveys, and the streaming connections function well. Just an easy-to-use Yifi alternative. Despite not having Yifi torrents, this site has several fantastic streams that are worth viewing.

Movie4k

Movie4k’s multilingual availability makes it a global favorite. This makes the link choices wide and expanding. Movie4k will please fans of European and non-Hollywood films. In addition to overseas films, there are many beloved US films. A huge, current collection of TV series and blockbusters is available. This Yifi movies alternative features an excellent search tool and comprehensive IMDb metadata, making it worth bookmarking. With its vast range and foreign language features, the site makes up for not offering Yifi torrents.

CmoviesHD

Cmovies.hd includes many movies and great browsing tools including IMDb information and country-by-country browsing, making it an appealing Yifi alternative. The site is speedy, feature-rich, and simple to read at night in dark. Fast-loading broadcasts made the experience immersive and like a premium streaming service. Cmovies’ setup is amazing and worth bookmarking as a Yifi movies option. As shown in the image, certain third-party ads didn’t load while surfing Cmovies. But the site developers are smart to make sure these difficulties don’t interfere with the rest of the site’s operation or prevent users from enjoying the huge range of entertainment titles.

1337x

Due to its fast page loading and large movie collection, 1337x.to is one of the best Yifi torrent alternatives. There are also several fantastic tools on the site that make title browsing easy. For these reasons, 1337x should be known as a worthy Yifi movies alternative. 1337x offers torrent downloads for games, applications, and titles, so exploring the listings might take hours. No bothersome advertising or pop-ups mean the site won’t get in your way or give you malware, which is good.

Xmovies8

Xmovies8 contains TV seasons and blockbusters, making it a suitable Yifi stream option. Regular updates are made, however the list does not include all the current titles. However, its large back catalog gives you many possibilities for previous releases. No irritating ads impair the experience, and the IMDb integration is seamless and easy to improve the user experience. The site’s related movies function works nicely and is accurate enough to make browsing entertaining. Everything is categorized and provides a lot of movie metadata, making title research easy. our makes Xmovies8 a good user experience and deserving of our alternatives list.

9xMovies

9xmovies has Asian and Yifi movies in one location! Hundreds of thousands of Pakistani, Hindi, and Bollywood dual-audio and dub movies are available. It is a huge Asian film platform. Besides this, it has all the usual American and European programs and movies for Yifi movies downloads. This site has many of Blu-ray and standard quality links without intrusive pop-ups or advertising. Because of its amazing features, we recommend bookmarking this site as a Yifi alternative.

FAQs About YIFY

Here are answers to some common questions people have about YIFY:

Is YIFY still active?

The original YIFY Torrents site, YTS.to, has been permanently closed since 2015. However, many mirror sites now use the YIFY or YTS name to attract former users. So the brand lives on through these unofficial spinoffs.

Has YIFY been sued?

Yes, YIFY settled a high-profile lawsuit against it from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in late 2015. This legal action ultimately led to YTS shutting down operations for good.

Are YIFY torrents legal?

No. All major YIFY mirrors and proxies engage in piracy by distributing copyright-protected movies without authorization. Downloading may be low risk in some regions, but it violates content owners’ rights.

Why are YIFY files so small?

Through efficient encoding techniques, YIFY manages to compress movie files down to just 700-1400 MB on average without substantially reducing visual quality. Few other groups pull off this delicate balance.

How can I access YIFY?

With the original YTS.to site gone, you’ll have to use mirror sites displaying the YIFY or YTS name. Examples include YTS.AM, YTS.AG, and YIFY Torrents (yifytorrent.cc). As always, use a VPN to stay protected.