Series Yonkis blocks links to free film and TV content

Series Yonkis and Películas Yonkis, two of the most popular websites in Spain for streaming movies and TV shows, have been blocking all links on their web pages since Friday.

Anyone attempting to click on a link on the site is either taken to another page where they are asked to enter a cellphone number, or are left with the file perpetually downloading but never opening.

The reason for the blocks is unknown, though the move comes in the wake of the presentation of the draft Intellectual Property Reform Law, which stipulates punishments of up to six years in prison and fines of up 300,000 euros for the owners of websites linking to pirated material. The site has not been the object of legal action or an internet attack that could have prompted such a move.

Series Yonkis, which is ranked the 51st most popular site in Spain according to web traffic measurement service Alexa, has posted no comment on Twitter, Facebook or its official website to explain the blocks.

The site suffered a major blow in 2012 following the closure of Megaupload and many other similar file hosting sites, such as Fileserve and 4shared, although it later recovered its activity.

Series Yonkis was created in 2007 by Alberto García Sola, who sold it in 2009 to Burn Media, which is run by Alexis Hoepfner.

The site has functioned as a link aggregation service: users select the TV show or movie they want to see and then access a menu where they will find different options for streaming or downloading it from external sources.