The site swiftly moved to a new domain, as we reported at the time, and its Android app remained widely available.
However, the app is now drawing attention in Brussels. In submissions for the European Commission’s 2027 Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List, both the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and French TV company Canal+ report MovieBox as a large piracy operation.
From 243 to 305 Million
Both rightsholders highlight the same app distribution channel. In its overview of piracy apps, the MPA notes that MovieBox was downloaded more than 243 million times from Palm Store alone.
Palm Store is the app store that comes preinstalled on Tecno, Infinix and itel phones. These brands all belong to Chinese phone maker Transsion, which sold 61.5% of all mobile phones in Africa in 2024, according to its own filings.
Canal+ adds more detail. It notes that MovieBox switched to moviebox.ph after enforcement action against its .ng domain in 2025.
According to Canal+, the app continued to grow after this switch. The site remains online today and the same is true for the app, which more than doubled its number of downloads in less than a year.
“As of 16 June 2026, PalmStore reported approximately 243.3 million MovieBox application downloads, representing growth of approximately 108% since August 2025, with MovieBox continuing to rank as the number one application in the Entertainment category on the PalmStore platform,” Canal+ writes.
The reported June count is already outdated. At the time of writing, Palm Store lists 305.6 million downloads for the app, an increase of more than 60 million in less than four months.
MovieBox’s store listing explicitly promotes movies, TV series and live sports. “Enjoy free access to sports live streams right in our app,” the description reads, with a specific mention of Europe’s five biggest leagues. Its promotional artwork features copyrighted shows and categories such as Marvel and Disney.
Transsion’s Own App Store
Palm Store is not an independent app marketplace. In a draft prospectus for its planned Hong Kong listing, Transsion describes it as its own app distribution platform, which had more than 180 million monthly active users on average last year.
This prospectus also explains how the app store makes money. Transsion states that it typically charges third-party developers based on the number of installs that go through its distribution platform. Whether this also applies to MovieBox is unknown.
‘Closely Linked’
Hosting an app in a store doesn’t mean that the store’s owner has anything to do with it. However, Canal+ suggests that the ties run deeper.
“MovieBox has been closely linked to the Transsion / Transsnet ecosystem. Historical domain registration records identified Transsion-linked registration details for moviebox.ng, while technical analysis of the Android application revealed certificates signed under the Transsion name and references to Transsion-owned infrastructure and services,” Canal+ writes.
The submission doesn’t explain what these registration details and certificates revealed. It also doesn’t state that Transsion owns or operates MovieBox.
Canal+ further mentions Excellent Innovation Limited, a Hong Kong company it connects to MovieBox through domain registrations, SSL certificates, developer attributions and trademark filings. Palm Store indeed lists this company as the app’s developer.
The MPA’s submission doesn’t mention Transsion at all. The Hollywood group merely notes that MovieBox is believed to be operated out of China.
Canal+ also has a more direct commercial interest in the matter. The French group owns MultiChoice, the pay-TV company behind DStv, which operates in the same African markets.
Neither of the submissions mentions whether anyone has asked Palm Store or Transsion to remove the app.
Before the Commission decides, the services that are reported will be offered a chance to respond.
“The Commission will also make reasonable efforts to contact the service providers reported in the submissions and invite them to respond in writing to the allegations made against them,” the consultation document reads.
The new list is expected to be released in the spring of next year. The Commission notes that a mention wouldn’t be a finding of wrongdoing or a confirmation of legal violations. It is simply meant to encourage operators and governments to take action against infringement.
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A copy of Canal+’s submission is available here (pdf) and the MPA’s submission can be found here (pdf).
We reached out to MovieBox and Transsion for a comment on the submissions, but we did not receive a response at the time of writing.
