aXXo facts for kids

aXXo
Visual of aXXo ASCII art in .nfo file by kug.
Years active	2005–2009
Known for	Content distribution

aXXo was the Internet name used by a person who shared many commercial movies online for free between 2005 and 2009. These movies were usually new releases. They were very popular among people who used file sharing methods like BitTorrent.

A company that tracks downloads found that in late 2008, almost 33.5% of all movie downloads were from aXXo. aXXo made the movie files about 700 MB in size, which was the same size as a compact disc. Because aXXo's files were well-known for their quality, many other people started using "aXXo" in their own file names to make their files seem more popular.

The Story of aXXo

aXXo first appeared in November 2005 on a message board called "Darkside_RG".

Early Challenges and Return

In November 2007, aXXo removed many of their shared files from a website called The Pirate Bay. They did this because they were unhappy about mean comments being added to their files, possibly by groups that protect movie copyrights. After this, aXXo stopped sharing new files for about four months. They returned on March 9, 2008, with the movie I Am Legend.

Milestones and Final Uploads

On December 15, 2008, aXXo shared their 1,000th movie, Mirrors. This was a big moment for their followers.

aXXo stopped sharing new files on March 11, 2009, after releasing Punisher: War Zone. For a while, they still visited a website called Mininova, until that site changed its rules to only host files that were free of copyrights.

On April 19, 2009, aXXo made their last known comment on the "Darkside_RG" message board. They thanked their followers and warned them to be careful of fake websites.

How aXXo Shared Movies

aXXo would take movies from DVDs and make them into smaller files, usually around 700 MB. These files were in a format called .avi. Then, aXXo would create a special file called a .torrent file. This file helped people download the movies using Bittorrent Trackers.

Many people downloaded aXXo's files, sometimes over a million users each month. The files aXXo shared usually had names like "Name.Of.Movie[year]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo.avi". This naming style showed that the movie was taken from an English-language DVD. Each aXXo file also came with a small text file called a .nfo file, which had information about the movie. This file also included a warning: "Be aware of bogus sites and lamers, download your aXXo files from aXXo accounts. Enjoy!"

Who Was aXXo?

In an interview with someone who claimed to be aXXo, they said they were just one person. This person mentioned they had been making copies of DVDs since they were a teenager.

People Who Pretended to Be aXXo

Because aXXo was so popular, many other people and groups started using the name "aXXo" for their own files. They did this to make their files seem more trustworthy or popular.

Some of these fake files were even put online by companies that protect copyrights. These companies, like BayTSP or MediaSentry, would create fake files to try and catch people who were sharing movies. These fake files often contained useless information or even harmful programs that could damage a computer. For example, some fake files might ask users to download a special program that was actually a Trojan horse, which is a type of harmful software.

For years, aXXo warned their followers to "beware of bogus sites and lamers" in the information files that came with their movies.

About a year after aXXo stopped sharing files in 2009, another group called YIFY started sharing similar movie files. They also focused on making files that were small and efficient.

See also

In Spanish: AXXo para niños

• Warez
• YIFY