Hi Boox Popular Magazine 2024
Have you ever encountered something too good to be true? Like downloading a brand-new computer game for free or watching a movie that has yet to come out before the others. In many cases, offers like this seem fraudulent and in 99.9% of these cases, it’s like that. Nowadays, people are looking for legal and non-fraudulent movie streaming websites that aren’t going to fill their computers with viruses and malware. Unfortunately, these websites, although common, are going to do exactly what we talk about – infect your PC with malware and show you annoying ads.
But, where do 123Movies places here? Is this website any good? Is it going to infest your PC with viruses and malware? There’s a lot to talk about 123Movies, so we suggest that you devote some of your time and inform yourself about the website but first, let’s see what 123Movies is.
What is 123Movies?
As you might have guessed, 123Movies is a website that allows you to watch pirated movies. Now, many will say that there are tons of other websites out there that allow you to do the same, and they are right. The same principle is applied to 123Movies, meaning that this website is only a part of dozens or hundreds of clone websites. This can be seen by the ever-changing website’s domain. Sometimes, it’s .la and sometimes it’s .com. As is the case with the other movie-streaming websites, 123Movies gives you a plethora of movies to stream, from older to newer ones. The great thing is that you don’t need to create an account or log in. Instead, you just click on the title of the movie that you want to watch and begin streaming right away, using your computer or any other internet-connected device.
123Movies also offers TV shows, aside from movies, which expands its possibilities. Furthermore, 123Movies doesn’t offer just the titles that recently appeared in theaters but also titles from the popular streaming websites such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. Thanks to its variety and quantity of content, 123Movies quickly became one of the best and the most popular streaming websites. As such, the website allows you to watch movies from your computer, smartphone or tablet. Kodu and Roku devices offer a 123Movies app but before you decide on using this app or website, you need to hear what we have to say in this article.
Is 123Movies Legal?
Whether or not 123Movies is legal, is a question of the location and the laws in this location. For example, in the Western world, streaming movies or any kind of content that’s not obtained through a valid license is illegal. But, 123Movies isn’t from the Western world and operate in other parts of the world, as is the case with almost any streaming website. These websites are based in countries with no strict copyright or anti-piracy laws. On top of that, 123Movies uses a very clever tactic to bypass the law in certain countries. Instead of uploading their content on the website, 123Movies links you with the pirated content. For example, you type the name of the movie, you get the results, and when you click on the movie, you’re redirected to a secure cyberlocker or another online source for streaming.
In the eyes of the Western world and its harsh laws, this makes little to no difference, hence the website is illegal in the United States. This is because the website doesn’t purchase licenses for the movies or TV shows, although they don’t pirate the content. The situation begs another question – is any streaming website legal? For sure. There are dozens of them but they don’t have very popular TV shows and movies, which is why most people don’t use them. Still, if you want to enjoy watching movies and not worry about problems with the law, using legal streaming websites might be your best bet.
Is 123Movies Safe?
If you’re concerned about safety at 123Movies, you may be right because websites like this often use tons of ads and pop-ups to earn some cash for what they do. Unfortunately, this is not the only way they earn money. They also infect your computer with malware that uses your PC resources for mining cryptocurrencies. Not only that but some malware is capable of stealing your data, so don’t be surprised if some of your social media accounts get stolen. Some users reported that the website is prone to phishing, which lets the person who created it steal your data and personal information. The same thing applies to the mobile app, so we don’t suggest downloading it. In our opinion, if you’re not so eager to watch a particular movie, don’t use 123Movies for streaming.
We know that millions of users use it but a vast majority of them have complaints. If you don’t believe us, check the reviews here. Now, if you desperately want to stream movies and TV shows on this website, we suggest using a high-quality antivirus program and firewall.
What is the New Domain Name?
As some of you probably know, 123Movies changed its name to GoMovies and their domain name is GoStream.site. Since tons of websites spawned from 123Movies, you can find the website under the names 123movies4u, Gomovies123, etc.
What Happened to The Original 123Movies.to Streaming Site?
Despite being a powerful streaming website counting millions of users, the original 123Movies website got shut down by MPAA (The Motion Picture Association of America) in conjunction with officials in Vietnam. Since the website was shut down, many other instances have appeared, thus we have numerous domain names. Given the huge amount of these websites, it’s impossible to keep track of what site is the official 123Movies. Furthermore, the website changes its domain name to remain active and avoid being shut down by the officials.
As each website gets taken down, new websites are instantly created and they’re used to infect a computer with malware and viruses. The clone websites are also illegal as the original one and since they’re not official 123Movies websites, they’re more likely to contain malware and viruses.
Should You Watch Movies on 123Movies?
Even though the website attracted millions of visitors during the years, we still don’t suggest watching movies on this website. The fact that many people watch movies from there doesn’t mean the website is legal. It’s the same situation as with Torrent. Millions of people download songs, movies, series, and games illegally, making the artists or the game-making company lose money. 123Movies, in this case, don’t upload any movies but having in mind that the stuff they show is illegal, so is the website.
Another reason why we don’t suggest watching movies on 123Movies is that your PC could be infected with malware or viruses. Any of the 123Movies clone websites can insert a virus in your PC, especially since we don’t know what website is the original, due to their constant change in domain. As mentioned before, other streaming websites might not be free but they allow you to stream popular movies for a negligible monthly fee, which is often affordable even if you don’t have a lot of money.
Should You Use a VPN When Visiting 123Movies?
In today’s day and age, everyone should use a VPN, regardless of the websites they visit. In this case, however, a VPN is a must-have! Did you know you can get charged for downloading stuff from Torrent websites or streaming illegal content on websites such as this one? Many people have the police come at their doorstep and they don’t know what did they do wrong. Well, this is why the police can knock on your door and arrest you. Furthermore, there are copyright trolls that could also target you, and in both cases, you’ll end up in the depths of the legal suite.
What are the Alternatives?
If you desperately want to stream popular movies and TV series and you don’t want to be in constant fear of the law, there are legal and paid alternatives. Here are the best 123Movies alternatives that all of us can afford:
Netflix
Netflix and chill? This has become a very popular question since the inception of Netflix. Netflix is the most popular streaming service for watching movies and TV shows and as such, it has an enormous catalog that you can enjoy for hours, days, months, and years. At this moment, Netflix has more than 118 million subscribers and if you’re willing to go legal, you can always join the ever-growing community. Despite being completely legal, countries like China are still having problems with Netflix but as we mentioned, if you have a VPN, you won’t have a problem accessing it there.
What about the fees, then? The cheapest Netflix subscription will cost you $7.99 a month, while the standard subscription will cost you $9.99 a month. If you want to go premium, you can always pay $11.95 a month and receive premium plans with the possibility to stream in Ultra HD and watch four movies simultaneously on four screens. Unfortunately, users outside of the USA will have to use a VPN to unblock the extensive catalog available only for the USA.
Poprocnflix
If you don’t want to spend a penny on a streaming service, Popcornflix might be the best deal for you. Even though it’s free, Popcornflix is safe to use and legal. Using Popcornflix is very simple and all you have to do is log in, and start enjoying your favorite movies or TV shows. Being free, the website is loaded with tons of ads because the owners must earn the money somehow. If you don’t mind the ads, you can enjoy a free-of-charge streaming service like this one, without worrying about malware, viruses, and legal issues.
The Popcornflix collection of movies ranges from romance and comedy to action, and nostalgia movie genres. The website is also affiliated to Frightflix and Popcornflixkids, websites for horror and children movies respectively.
Hulu
In terms of pricing, Hulu is very similar to Netflix and the website offers two main plans for the so-called Hulu Experience. The first plan starts at $7.99 a month and it’s a “limited commercials” plan, which will display commercials but not as some of the free streaming websites. On the other side, Hulu offers a “no commercial” plan for a price of $11.99 a month and as its name implies, you can watch movies without commercial if you decide for this one. Both of these plans allow you to add showtime to your subscription. Is Hulu worth the price? Absolutely. Its ever-growing library of content offers a plethora of movies, live TV, and anime. Furthermore, Hulu allows you to stream your favorite shows on a wide array of devices, so you can enjoy it on your smartphone or tablet.
The best thing about Hulu is that it’s completely legal, so you won’t have to worry about problems with the law.
Conclusion
Now that you know everything about 123Movies, it’s time to see what are your options. For the start, you can still stream movies on some of the 123Movies clone websites but then, your computer is at risk of malware and viruses. Not to mention that you can get in problems with the law, you’ll probably need to pay a hefty fee for watching illegal content.
To conclude, we say that you don’t use any illegal streaming websites, for your safety, and the safety of your computer and data. If you want to stream movies, it’s always better to go for free legal websites or pay a small fee for Hulu or Netflix subscription. If that doesn’t sound good to you, you can always go to the local cinema and watch the movie on a big screen.
Either way, we don’t recommend using 123Movies and that summarizes our review.
