How Russia’s “Ivi.ru,” under the guise of fighting piracy, is scrubbing investigations about Cosmobet and “nominee” Mykhailo Zborovskyi from Ukrainian media
The investigation into the owner of Cosmobet, Mykhailo Zborovskyi, leads to strange coincidences: while cleaning up the reputation of a nominal owner, a Russian company attacks Ukrainian media.
This is reported by Antikor
At the center of this new story is a complaint filed by a Russian company, LLC «Ivi.ru», which was submitted to the international Lumen Database. In a document concerning copyright violations, the name of the Ukrainian portal «Antikor» unexpectedly surfaced. However, the stated reason is neither political nor related to investigations, but… «illegal distribution of a pirated copy of the series “Clone” (2001)».
At first glance, it seems like a typical case of copyright protection. But if you dig deeper, a more intriguing picture emerges.
Who is Mykhailo Zborovskyi, and what does Cosmobet have to do with it?
Читайте по темі: Хабар для “чистої” репутації: Cosmobet “фунта” Токарєва Михайла Зборовського заплатило 20 тисяч доларів за довідку про відсутність зв’язків з РФ
«Antikor» is one of the few Ukrainian publications that released a series of articles exposing the scheme behind the online casino Cosmobet. In particular, the materials focused on Mykhailo Zborovskyi, the officially declared owner of the casino. According to the investigation, he is a nominal figure, while the real manager and beneficiary is believed to be a Russian citizen, Sergey Tokarev, a figure involved in several schemes related to the gambling business.
After the publications, Zborovskyi’s name began to be scrubbed from Google: links to the investigation disappeared, and pages exposing the scheme were removed from search results under DMCA complaints.
As it turned out, one of the initiators of this cleanup is the Russian company LLC «Ivi.ru», known as the owner of the video platform ivi.ru. The company has been filing complaints against several websites where criticism of Cosmobet and Zborovskyi was published. Among them is Antikor.info, though it is listed… as a site with pirated content, not as a media outlet.
«Ivi.ru»: Russian roots and a Cypriot shell
The company LLC «Ivi.ru» is not just a movie platform. According to open data from Rusprofile, it is owned by the Cypriot company IVI HOLDING LIMITED, which, in turn, is linked to several Russian owners and investors.
Formally, the complaint concerns piracy. But here’s the catch: out of all Ukrainian resources, it is specifically Antikor.info that appears on the list of «violators», and the complaint coincides precisely with the date of publication of an anti-corruption article about Zborovskyi.
The conclusion suggests itself: protecting the rights to the series «Clone» is merely a pretext under which inconvenient Ukrainian media are being targeted. This is how hybrid censorship works: instead of refuting claims, formal copyright infringement complaints are used to remove investigations from search engines.
Double motivation?
The situation seems particularly ironic when you consider that a Russian company, which is cleaning up the reputation of a «Ukrainian» businessman, accuses a Ukrainian investigative media outlet of piracy.
The conclusion is simple – the guilty party is not the one who steals, but the one who speaks loudly about it.
Читайте по темі: A front man for millions: how Mykhailo Zborovskyi became the “face” of Cosmobet, behind which stands Sergey Tokarev and an old gambling scheme with a Russian trace
P.S. Journalists from «Antikor» are already preparing relevant requests to Google and international organizations, demanding a review of the complaint from LLC «Ivi.ru». However, the very attempt to «cancel» the publications speaks volumes: they hit the bullseye.