Hoang, 23, along with Tran Dinh Quy and Ha Xuan Sang, both 29 and residing in Da Nang, were recently charged by the Hanoi Police Investigation Agency in two separate cases. They face investigation for "infringement of copyright, related rights," under Clause 2, Article 225 of the Penal Code.
According to police, Hoang, a final year software engineering student, created the multi-platform system phimne.live, which included a website and applications for tivi, phones, and tablets. He then used source code to automatically retrieve movie data from various websites on the internet, while also employing technical solutions to conceal administrative information.
Hoang's system operated from June 2025, attracting over 1,090 registered members and more than 90,000 visits. The platforms illegally screened numerous cinematic works belonging to the Japan Content Overseas Distribution Association, the Motion Picture Association of America, and Beta Media Joint Stock Company, among others.
Specifically, the film Mua do, produced by People's Army Cinema, was illegally screened by Hoang, with the owner identifying damages of approximately 3 billion VND.
 |
The accused individuals who have been charged. Photo: Police provided |
Earning money from over 6,400 viewer payments
In the second case, Quy and Sang, both university graduates in information technology, developed the phimne.app application for the Android TV platform. They did so without permission from copyright holders to exploit or commercially distribute films.
This application integrated links to various film sources on the internet to illegally screen cinematic works. The two also designed a feature requiring users to pay a membership fee after 15 minutes of free viewing.
Police determined that from early 2025 to April 2026, the two individuals collected nearly 415 million VND in illicit gains through 6,451 user payments.
According to MNB Law Company Limited, which represents the rights enforcement for the Japan Content Overseas Distribution Association, the actions of these two individuals caused over 9 billion VND in damages to TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd.
