As streamers everywhere continue raising their subscription prices, introducing password-sharing crackdowns (we’re looking at you, Netflix), and purging content, leaving viewers with no alternative to find their favorite shows and movies via legal means, many viewers have been relying on sites streaming content for free. But as these sites are not always legal, as they often serve copyrighted content, they regularly switch their URLs. What is less common is them shutting down altogether, something which has happened to the popular site Soap2day.
If you are itching for a binge session, ready with a bucket of popcorn, and planning to access Soap2day’s massive content library of shows, films, and documentaries, get ready to face the tragic news of it being shut down permanently. The site closed down on June 13th, 2023, with the site’s team sharing a basic message announcing their decision to end Soap2day for good.
“Hello guys: We have decided to close Soap2day forever. We are very sorry 🙂 Bye – Soap2day Team.”
Yep, not even the classic “It’s not you, it’s me” one-liner to soothe the broken hearts who have relied on the site since its conception back in 2018.
Why did Soap2day shut down permanently?
Those wondering if this is a temporary absence as Soap2day did go MIA back in 2020, the team coming forward to address the same this time does give it a final tone. So, all that is left for us to figure out is the elephant in the room — why did the site close down?
Well, bluntly speaking, the free movies and TV series were not legally acquired by Soap2day, thus it violated copyright laws, and watching the same on the site was deemed illegal. Such sites are explicitly blocked in many countries and in fact, accessing content on the likes of Soap2day is a punishable offense that can lead to penalties, fines of $100,000, and even jail time.
As mentioned above, such sites continuously change their URLs to avoid copyright theft crackdowns. It won’t be far fetched to assume that Soap2day possibly couldn’t evade the same any longer.
Boasting illegal content isn’t the only reason such pirate websites are not secure. Even though Soap2Day called itself “as one of the most secure free movie streaming platforms just like YouTube, Google and Netflix,” the countless pop-ups that opened when one browsed or tried to watch a title didn’t actually come with the confirmation that they won’t lead to a virus or compromise your private data.
So, even though there are a trillion more pirate sites out there, given the perils that accompany them and the fact they effectively strip content creators of the justified credit that they rightfully deserve, it is still not late to switch to the ever-expanding legal streaming libraries and VOD options.