123movies Review and Guide
123 movies Review and Questions answered
As a movie enthusiast, you can find recent movies at theatres or stream them online. However, when streaming videos online, you may want to take caution. Many of these sites offering free streaming are either illegal or may infect your computer with malware. This review is about the 123movies, also known as Gomovies or Gostream.
What is 123movies
123movies is a free online video streaming site. 123movies is one of the largest sites of its kind with thousands of movies available for download and streaming. 123movies is a part of a network of other dozens of illegal clone websites.
To stream on 123movies, you do not need to create an account or log in. Type in the website, click on the movie you want to watch, and you’re good to go. On the surface, 123movies might look all good. You should know that almost all streaming sites, including 123movies that allow you to watch films for free, are not legal. That is the reason authorities have been on the hunt for 123movies and has forced them to change names, and host provider many times.
You can find the latest television shows and movie blockbuster at 123movies, making it harder for moviemakers to make any profit. You can find titles from different popular streaming sites like Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix, amongst others. Because of the variety and diversity of content at 123movies, they have grown to become one of the most popular streaming sites in the industry. 123movies even have an application for Kodu and Roku devices.
Is 123Movies Legal?
In most parts of the western world, viewing content without proper licenses is not legal. 123movies and some other websites like them operate without appropriate permits. These types of sites are often in countries which don’t have rigorous copyright or anti-piracy law.
123movies makes use of a solution that helps them to circumvent the law in different countries. So, instead of them hosting the pirated content on their website, they make use of links to pirated content. In other words, when you click on a movie on their site, you will be redirected to another source. A secure cyberlocker is used to stream the content.
Although 123movies is a free streaming site, they are still illegal. There are still some sites online nowadays that are safe and legal. You might not find the latest blockbuster movies on these other types of websites, but at least you will not get into trouble viewing them.
Did 123Movies Get Shut Down?
Yes, 123movies got shut down in March 2017. Ted Osius, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, has been talking with the local minister of information and communication Truong Minh Tuan. One of their main conversations was about them working in collaboration to shutdown illegal video streaming sites in Vietnam, with 123movies among the list as a specific site.
What Happened to 123 movies websites
In October 2017, 123movies was listed by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) among the notorious online markets to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. These sites technically have its host from Ukraine, and they ensure the true identity of the operator stays hidden. They make use of numerous steps to ensure the operator’s identity remains unknown, including Cloud-flare.
Even though the identity of the operator remains a mystery, there is a strong reason to believe the operator is still in Vietnam. The reason why they think the operator is in Vietnam is that their contents are being uploaded using cyber-lockers from different email accounts. Most of the materials on their sites originate from Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
On the 18th of March 2018, Motion Picture Association of America published a list of notorious piracy websites. The MPAA was also a target to 123movies, and they list 123movies as the most popular illegal movie site in the world. The MPAA estimated that 123movies gets over 98+ million visitors per month. And truth be told, the amount of visitors 123movies receives per month exceeds the average amount an illegal streaming site gets.
In the published MPAA, 123movies appears to have hosts from Vietnam. 123movies were working and visiting Vietnamese officials (the Office of the Police Investigation Agency C44), as there was an attempt to take the streaming website offline. At a point, 123movies published a notice with a countdown of days remaining on their site to go offline.
On the 3rd of April, the countdown was remaining five days. When the time came, and went, a quick search on the web will reveal that there are still more than half a dozen 123movies websites out there.
The New 123Movie Site, How is there a New One?
Sometime in October 2018, MPAA claimed free streaming sites like movies, Gostream, and 123movies had been shut down. They claimed the fight against notorious online markets to the United States trade representative was an essential development in combating illegal film piracy services. More so, the MPAA also reported that after the closure of 123movies, numerous copycat sites emerged in at least up to eight different countries.
As of November 2018, TorrentFreak reposted some sites which are similar and connected to 123movies like WatchAsap.com. Although it has been shut down already by the FBI, visiting their website will redirect you to another file sharing sites.
Is the New 123Movies Site Safe?
We can neither confirm nor deny if the new 123movies site is safe. To start, 123movies is illegal to access. It has also been closed down because of piracy, and the websites you see now are clone websites. These clone versions have very low-quality. They have loads of broken links in the website, as well as ad pages that keep popping up on your computer. So, if asked, is the new 123movies site safe to use?
Put, no. There are lots of reports from different users that 123movies site often distributes viruses and malware. This malware doesn’t only apply to the websites, but also the mobile app as well.
Visiting such website only exposes you because these sites are not secured. The malware and viruses get into your computer or mobile devices through Javascript, which is on the website. So, if for any reason you choose to visit the site, ensure your device is well protected. Make sure your firewall is up and running and that you have a quality antivirus.
However, with all the viruses and malware flying around, there is always a way around it. Using the right VPN here when using this site dramatically reduces the risk of your computer or devices exposure to viruses and malware. When using a VPN, you can stream on any streaming site safely with no geo-restriction. A VPN offers you a built-in adblocker, antimalware, encrypted network, torrent without exposing your I.P., shared I.P. so no one can track you amongst others.
The verdict is that 123movies is not all that safe except you protect your computer, not to even mention the fact that 123movies is illegal. Bottom line it’s best you stay away from the site.
Can you get in trouble for using 123Movies?
Even though 123movies are operating illegally, you shouldn’t get into any trouble downloading or streaming their content for your personal use. So, don’t expect to get a visit from the police because you visited 123movies website. In the United States, downloading unauthorised copies of a video for personal use is at most civil copyright infringement, and in some cases, it’s not. It’s not a crime, so the police would not come into the play. The worst that can happen is you getting sued by the movie distributors. And the only time cops may come into play is to serve you with the notice of the lawsuit possibly.
Besides, under the U.S. copyright law, a stream is not a copy, and the copyright law also does not cover what is called ephemeral-copies. So, if you’re streaming, you’re not committing any offence. However, websites like 123movies offering the content are the ones committing the crime as they don’t have the proper licenses. So, they are the ones on the hook for civil and criminal copyright infringement and not you streaming. It is illegal to offer a download or stream of copyrighted audio or video without licenses from the copyright owners. But it is not an offence to receive a stream.
The problem people get into when using websites like 123movies is that the tools used for streaming videos also offers downloaded content which you can further redistribute. It is this further redistribution that creates a legal problem for you when using 123movies and not the download itself. For most people just getting a streaming subscription or using Spectrum tv
How to remove 123Movies ads from Computer and Browser
You can choose to remove 123movies ads manually or automatically. If you know your way around the P.C., you can use the manual method to become 123movie ads. Otherwise, use the free antimalware tools as it was explicitly designed to get rid of adware.
How to delete 123movies ads manually without any software
These steps will guide you on how to remove 123movies ads on MacOS, Windows XP, 7, 8, and 10. Our focus will be on web browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer.
macOS
To remove 123movies ads pop-ups from your macOS, follow the instructions below:
- Launch Finder
- Select Application under Finder sidebar
- Find Uninstall 123movies or 123movies uninstaller, and double-click it, after that follow the onscreen instruction
- Restart your computer in the end
Windows P.C.
To remove 123movies ads from your Windows P.C., use the following easy steps as it works on any Windows P.C. Be it Windows XP, 7, 8, or 10.
- Find the control panel on your computer. it is easier to search
- Click on Uninstall a program under programs
- Find 123movies, select it and choose “Uninstall.”
- Restart your computer in the end
Here are ways you can get rid of 123movies ads from some popular web browsers:
Firefox
You can deal with 123movies ads from your Firefox without deleting your theme, password, history, web form auto-fill information and so on. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Click on the menu button that looks like three horizontal links,
- Click on the help icon which looks like a question mark in a circle.is located at the bottom of the drop-down menu,
- A small list will display, click on troubleshooting information. Then click on Refresh Firefox button,
- Follow the onscreen procedure until you’ve restored your Firefox.
Internet Explorer
Is your Internet Explorer hijacked or you have too many unwanted ads pop-ups? Here’s a quick solution you can try out.
- Click on the setting gear on the top right corner of your PC
- On the tool drop-down menu, click on “Internet Options.”
- After that, select “Advanced” on the “Internet Option” screen and click on “Reset.”
- Follow the onscreen procedure until you’ve reset it back to default. Close the browser and restart your computer and the changes will take effect.
Chrome
If you’re getting 123movies pop up in chrome, you can remove it by clearing cookies, content and site data, temporary and cached data. Relevant data like a bookmark, and password will not delete.
- Click the menu button that looks like three dots on your top left screen,
- It will display the main Chrome menu, then click on the “Settings” menu,
- Scroll down to the “Advanced” option and click it
- In the “Privacy and Security” option, click on “Content Settings.”
- Click on “Notification” and find “123movies”. Click the three vertical dots beside it and click on “Remove.”
- Go back to the main menu and click on “Advanced.”
- Scroll down to “Reset” click it and follow the procedure until you’ve reset it back to the original default
How to delete 123movies ads automatically
If after you have tried the manual method of dealing with 123movies pop up or you are not getting your hands around it, then you should try the automatic process. To delete 123movies ads automatically, you would need to download free or paid malicious software removal tools. When you have downloaded one, launch it and run a full scan. The adware software will automatically scan your hard disk and registry to fix the problem. Using the adware software to deal with 123movies ads is the easiest way to deal with it.