MovieBox Passes 300 Million Downloads as Rightsholders Alert the EU

Last Updated on October 13, 2026 by Ethan Parker

MovieBox, a pirate streaming app, has now passed 300 million downloads on the Palm Store that comes preinstalled on millions of budget phones. In submissions for the European Commission's 2027 Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List, the Motion Picture Association and French broadcaster Canal+ both name it as a large piracy operation. The app keeps growing even after Nigerian authorities took down one of its domains last year.

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What Happened

Last year, Nigeria's copyright watchdog celebrated the suspension of MovieBox.ng, a pirate streaming site that drew tens of millions of visits every month. The site quickly moved to a new domain, and its Android app stayed widely available. Instead of fading, the app found a bigger distribution channel. According to the Motion Picture Association, it has been downloaded more than 243 million times from Palm Store alone.

Palm Store isn't an independent marketplace. It ships on Tecno, Infinix and itel phones, all made by Chinese manufacturer Transsion, which sold 61.5% of all mobile phones in Africa in 2024 by its own filings. Canal+ says the app switched to moviebox.ph after enforcement against its .ng domain in 2025. Its submission quotes Palm Store data showing 243.3 million downloads as of June 16, 2026, growth of about 108% since August 2025, with MovieBox ranked first in the Entertainment category. That count has already moved on. Palm Store now lists 305.6 million downloads, an increase of more than 60 million in under four months.

Key Facts

Downloads: 305.6 million on Palm Store at the time of the report, up from 243.3 million on June 16, 2026.
Growth: about 108% between August 2025 and June 2026, then more than 60 million more downloads in under four months.
Store: Palm Store, the app platform preinstalled on Transsion's Tecno, Infinix and itel phones.
Reach: Transsion sold 61.5% of all mobile phones in Africa in 2024, according to its own filings.
Submissions: the MPA and Canal+ both flagged MovieBox for the European Commission's 2027 Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List.
Domain history: the app moved to moviebox.ph after action against its .ng domain in 2025.
Ownership claims: Canal+ links the app to Hong Kong company Excellent Innovation Limited, which Palm Store lists as the developer, and points to Transsion-linked registration details.
Next step: the Commission will invite the reported services to respond and publish the new list in spring 2027.

What It Means

These submissions aren't a ruling, and a mention on the watch list wouldn't be a finding of wrongdoing. The scale is the story anyway. MovieBox reaches users through low-cost phones sold in markets where paid streaming is limited or costly, and its store listing openly advertises free live sports, including Europe's five biggest football leagues, plus major studio titles. That matters for anyone who watches across borders. When a platform is geo-blocked or licensed only in certain countries, piracy apps tend to fill the gap, and VPN use is one of the few tools that changes which options stay open. Access rules vary by country, and each service's terms of service still apply.

Related Guide

LaLiga has asked the same European Commission to add four major VPN providers to the 2027 piracy watch list over affiliate guides that explain how to bypass geo-blocks and court orders. Our breakdown of the LaLiga filing and the four VPNs it named explains what that request covers and why it matters for viewers.

Note: This isn't legal advice. Streaming rules and enforcement differ by country, so check your local laws and the terms of service of any service you use.

Source: TorrentFreak.