At his school in Saint-Etienne, in east-central France, @Fidel – one of his online pseudonyms – has the usual concerns of a ninth grader. As the school year drew to a close, he prepared for his end-of-year exams and reassured himself by thinking about the excellent score (90 out of 100) he received in the mock math test. To unwind, this 15 year old is one of the few in his group to play badminton in his free time. His friends at school prefer the video game Roblox. And while @Fidel also sometimes spent hours each day in front of his laptop, it's not for gaming: From his bedroom, which he has to himself in the family apartment, he manages an illegal streaming site.

On this site – let's call it "Vizix" (the name has been changed) – French internet users can watch thousands of pirated movies and series without downloading them. In a player similar to those on YouTube or Dailymotion, videos load in French or in the original language with subtitles, often in very good quality. Most of the content comes from paid platforms (Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+), but a few films still in theaters can also be found: Minecraft, Mission: Impossible and Lilo & Stitch were among the "trending" titles in May. The only catch is that each video is preceded by an ad, which can be disabled with a €2 monthly subscription.

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