<p>You can also check by looking at the anime selection and whether they could have a license for them. Quite a few anime are only licensed to a single site. </p>

<p>For example as of this writing Violet Evergarden and Devilman Crybaby are Netflix exclusives and Evangelion is not licensed to any streaming site . If any other site provides them then they are pirated.</p>

<p>Another method is by the player. A lot of pirate sites will outsource the actual video hosting by using embedded video players from other sites. Some have multiple such hosting sites that you can switch between.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T09:41:43.260Z
Tangential, but I read that [Netflix is licensing *Evangelion*](https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/27/18114331/netflix-neon-genesis-evangelion-anime-series).
Aki Tanaka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T09:23:24.787Z
2018-11-29T00:42:04.253Z
2018-11-29T00:42:04.253Z
ratchet freak
<p>If a streaming site is offering you copyrighted material for free, you can be confident that site is not operating legally.</p>

<p>However, watching/streaming anime (or other material) from a site is considered legal in many countries, even if the site itself is not legal. Whether this applies to your country would be better asked at law.stackexchange.com.</p>

<p>Despite of what was suggested in the other answer, checking if the site has a valid certificate and secure connection is bad and even dangerous advice, as nowadays any site can obtain those for free in just a few minutes with zero background checks through open certificate authorities like Let's Encrypt.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T02:13:15.037Z
Hi. If you think that 'checking if the site has a valid certificate and secure connection is bad and even dangerous advice,' then please suggest a better way since this does not help the user who asked the question. This might not be the best solution but not checking if a site has a 'green padlock' or not is even worse advice :) Try to also limit the scope of your answer to the website in question.
W. Are
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T02:54:12.907Z
@W.Are The way I suggested is checking whether the site is giving copyrighted material away for free. Nigerian princes don't give money away for free and neither do movie studios give their works away for free :). Why I think it is dangerous to teach users to check for green padlocks is that either the website in question will add that green padlock or a user will visit another similar site which has the green padlock - and now the user thinks it is suddenly legal. Neither does that give any protection against that site misusing your credit card information or giving you malware.
Kenji
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T03:15:14.903Z
I'm still confused by the reason you gave. Checking for a secure connection is the easiest way to test if a site is legitimate or not. It means that the connection is encrypted and that, in a way, makes a site secure. You are right in saying that they might still misuse information or give malware which is why I provided a list 
 of known legal sites beforehand so that if they really doubt the website in question, they have a legal alternatives to choose from.
W. Are
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T03:19:51.477Z
FWIW, Crunchyroll provides anime streaming for free and it's also legal though the anime choices are limited based on the watcher's country due to licensing. I think Funimation also provides it for free, but I can't test because it's geoblocked.
Aki Tanaka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T03:30:23.440Z
Kenji, the presence of a certificate and secure connection does not imply its legal. However, a legally upright streaming site that provides copyrighted anime contents MUST have a VALID certificate and secure connection in order to protect the users private information. A legal streaming site without a valid certificate or secure connection puts its users information at risk of hackers, only an illegal site will care less about the consequences of such negligence for private information.
Rumpelstiltskin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-29T04:40:48.050Z
To reinforce @AkiTanaka's point, I have a Funimation subscription and can watch certain Funimation shows for free.  (Since I pay I can watch the paid stuff, too.)
Makoto
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T01:23:16.520Z
2018-11-28T01:23:16.520Z
Kenji
<p>You might want to see this post: <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/922/how-can-i-tell-if-a-site-is-legal">How can I tell if a site is Legal?</a> It lists legal sites for streaming anime and reading/buying manga.</p>

<p><strong>Is anime1.com legal?</strong> Nope. An immediate indicator that a site is illegal is if it's laced with ads that are usually irrelevant to anime/manga in general. anime1.com's anime pages are almost filled up with ads and clicking on anime episode links results to pop-ups.</p>

<p>'You can also check the site information to confirm if they have a valid certificate and connection type,' as mentioned by @Rumplestiltskin. If a green padlock is present, that site is most likely secure and a 'Connection is secure' message will pop out whenever you click on it. This helps you avoid 'really dangerous anime-scam sites.' anime1.com does not have this so be wary of sites like these.</p>

<p><strong>Clarification</strong>: I just want to clarify something since people seem to misunderstand. <strong>The check for valid certificate is not a way to check for a site's legality</strong>. It is just for security purposes. There are many ways to check for a site's security but that, I think, is outside the scope of the question. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-27T22:40:45.817Z
Just to add to the answer, You can also check the site information to confirm if they have a valid certificate and connection type. A legal site will always have the "Padlock resembling thingy" at the browser address and the connection will be secure. This will also help you avoid really dangerous "anime-scam" sites. Anime1 is clearly a dangerously illegal site since it lacks all 3
Rumpelstiltskin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-27T22:57:33.587Z
An illegal site could have a secure connection thou, but if it does not have the symbol, then it is definitely illegal. The green padlock does not completely imply  its legal cause I also use quite a bit illegal and secure anime sites myself lol
Rumpelstiltskin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T00:49:08.850Z
There is no requirement for a legal site to use a certificate. It is *likely* that they will chose to - but whether a site is legal and whether is has a valid certificate are mutually exclusive.
Shadow
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T01:07:09.970Z
@Shadow As mentioned, the check for certificate and connection type is just for security purposes, not to determine if a site is legal or not. Personally, I would be wary if a so-called legal site does not have a valid certificate since all legal sites I visit have them.
W. Are
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T09:13:58.393Z
For example until recently Crunchyroll didn't have https. Even though it's a very large legal streaming site.
ratchet freak
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-29T18:12:31.733Z
`"An immediate indicator that a site is illegal is if it's laced with ads that are usually irrelevant to anime/manga in general."` Isn't that true of all sites when you don't run an ad blocker?
YetAnotherRandomUser
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T02:22:54.333Z
@YetAnotherRandomUser Really? Because I'm disabling my ad blocker now, testing each legal anime streaming site listed in the meta and I can't see any ads, obtrusive or irrelevant otherwise, unlike in anime1.com :)
W. Are
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T13:09:00.647Z
@w. are You must not be running enough blockers, because I don't see ads on anime1.com.  uBlock origin, NoScript, Privacy Badger, and a slew of other related extensions.  But the modern point of ad networks is that they track users and show ads on user behavior, not necessarily ads related to the content on the current page, which is how you can get aids for things unrelated to the content of the page.
YetAnotherRandomUser
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T13:18:36.543Z
@YetAnotherRandomUser Even so, it does not change the fact that anime1.com is an illegal site, and anime SE does not promote piracy nor endorse it. It would be against the rules to just advise the OP to use an ad blocker when using the site, when he/she should not use the site at all in the first place because it is illegal. There are far better sites that are safe :)
W. Are
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-30T15:50:50.397Z
@W.Are sounds like you're not very familiar with the technologies in play, and you want to put words in my mouth.  Neither are appropriate for me to explain in detail on this site as commentary.
YetAnotherRandomUser
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-27T21:28:07.997Z
2018-11-28T01:55:59.577Z
2018-11-28T01:55:59.577Z
W. Are
<p>Other anime streaming sites are blocking my IP because I'm Iranian while anime1.com isn't. I wanted to know if it's legal to watch/stream anime from this site. Thanks.</p>

<anime-production>
Is anime1.com a legal site for watching anime?
# Is anime1.com a legal site for watching anime?
Posted by: username_0 on 2018-11-27
Other anime streaming sites are blocking my IP because I'm Iranian while anime1.com isn't. I wanted to know if it's legal to watch/stream anime from this site. Thanks.
**Tags:** anime-production
---
## 3 answers
### Answer by username_4 on 2018-11-27. Score: 12 | Accepted answer
You might want to see this post: [How can I tell if a site is Legal?](https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/922/how-can-i-tell-if-a-site-is-legal) It lists legal sites for streaming anime and reading/buying manga.

**Is anime1.com legal?** Nope. An immediate indicator that a site is illegal is if it's laced with ads that are usually irrelevant to anime/manga in general. anime1.com's anime pages are almost filled up with ads and clicking on anime episode links results to pop-ups.

'You can also check the site information to confirm if they have a valid certificate and connection type,' as mentioned by @Rumplestiltskin. If a green padlock is present, that site is most likely secure and a 'Connection is secure' message will pop out whenever you click on it. This helps you avoid 'really dangerous anime-scam sites.' anime1.com does not have this so be wary of sites like these.

**Clarification**: I just want to clarify something since people seem to misunderstand. **The check for valid certificate is not a way to check for a site's legality**. It is just for security purposes. There are many ways to check for a site's security but that, I think, is outside the scope of the question.
> **Comments:**
> **username_5** (2018-11-27): Just to add to the answer, You can also check the site information to confirm if they have a valid certificate and connection type. A legal site will always have the "Padlock resembling thingy" at the browser address and the connection will be secure. This will also help you avoid really dangerous "anime-scam" sites. Anime1 is clearly a dangerously illegal site since it lacks all 3  
> **username_5** (2018-11-27): An illegal site could have a secure connection thou, but if it does not have the symbol, then it is definitely illegal. The green padlock does not completely imply  its legal cause I also use quite a bit illegal and secure anime sites myself lol  
> **username_7** (2018-11-28): There is no requirement for a legal site to use a certificate. It is *likely* that they will chose to - but whether a site is legal and whether is has a valid certificate are mutually exclusive.  
> **username_4** (2018-11-28): @Shadow As mentioned, the check for certificate and connection type is just for security purposes, not to determine if a site is legal or not. Personally, I would be wary if a so-called legal site does not have a valid certificate since all legal sites I visit have them.  
> **username_1** (2018-11-28): For example until recently Crunchyroll didn't have https. Even though it's a very large legal streaming site.  
> **username_8** (2018-11-29): `"An immediate indicator that a site is illegal is if it's laced with ads that are usually irrelevant to anime/manga in general."` Isn't that true of all sites when you don't run an ad blocker?  
> **username_4** (2018-11-30): @YetAnotherRandomUser Really? Because I'm disabling my ad blocker now, testing each legal anime streaming site listed in the meta and I can't see any ads, obtrusive or irrelevant otherwise, unlike in anime1.com :)  
> **username_8** (2018-11-30): @w. are You must not be running enough blockers, because I don't see ads on anime1.com.  uBlock origin, NoScript, Privacy Badger, and a slew of other related extensions.  But the modern point of ad networks is that they track users and show ads on user behavior, not necessarily ads related to the content on the current page, which is how you can get aids for things unrelated to the content of the page.  
> **username_4** (2018-11-30): @YetAnotherRandomUser Even so, it does not change the fact that anime1.com is an illegal site, and anime SE does not promote piracy nor endorse it. It would be against the rules to just advise the OP to use an ad blocker when using the site, when he/she should not use the site at all in the first place because it is illegal. There are far better sites that are safe :)  
> **username_8** (2018-11-30): @W.Are sounds like you're not very familiar with the technologies in play, and you want to put words in my mouth.  Neither are appropriate for me to explain in detail on this site as commentary.  
---
### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-28. Score: 2
You can also check by looking at the anime selection and whether they could have a license for them. Quite a few anime are only licensed to a single site.

For example as of this writing Violet Evergarden and Devilman Crybaby are Netflix exclusives and Evangelion is not licensed to any streaming site . If any other site provides them then they are pirated.

Another method is by the player. A lot of pirate sites will outsource the actual video hosting by using embedded video players from other sites. Some have multiple such hosting sites that you can switch between.
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2018-11-28): Tangential, but I read that [Netflix is licensing *Evangelion*](https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/27/18114331/netflix-neon-genesis-evangelion-anime-series).  
---
### Answer by username_3 on 2018-11-28. Score: -3
If a streaming site is offering you copyrighted material for free, you can be confident that site is not operating legally.

However, watching/streaming anime (or other material) from a site is considered legal in many countries, even if the site itself is not legal. Whether this applies to your country would be better asked at law.stackexchange.com.

Despite of what was suggested in the other answer, checking if the site has a valid certificate and secure connection is bad and even dangerous advice, as nowadays any site can obtain those for free in just a few minutes with zero background checks through open certificate authorities like Let's Encrypt.
> **Comments:**
> **username_4** (2018-11-28): Hi. If you think that 'checking if the site has a valid certificate and secure connection is bad and even dangerous advice,' then please suggest a better way since this does not help the user who asked the question. This might not be the best solution but not checking if a site has a 'green padlock' or not is even worse advice :) Try to also limit the scope of your answer to the website in question.  
> **username_3** (2018-11-28): @W.Are The way I suggested is checking whether the site is giving copyrighted material away for free. Nigerian princes don't give money away for free and neither do movie studios give their works away for free :). Why I think it is dangerous to teach users to check for green padlocks is that either the website in question will add that green padlock or a user will visit another similar site which has the green padlock - and now the user thinks it is suddenly legal. Neither does that give any protection against that site misusing your credit card information or giving you malware.  
> **username_4** (2018-11-28): I'm still confused by the reason you gave. Checking for a secure connection is the easiest way to test if a site is legitimate or not. It means that the connection is encrypted and that, in a way, makes a site secure. You are right in saying that they might still misuse information or give malware which is why I provided a list 
 of known legal sites beforehand so that if they really doubt the website in question, they have a legal alternatives to choose from.  
> **username_2** (2018-11-28): FWIW, Crunchyroll provides anime streaming for free and it's also legal though the anime choices are limited based on the watcher's country due to licensing. I think Funimation also provides it for free, but I can't test because it's geoblocked.  
> **username_5** (2018-11-28): Kenji, the presence of a certificate and secure connection does not imply its legal. However, a legally upright streaming site that provides copyrighted anime contents MUST have a VALID certificate and secure connection in order to protect the users private information. A legal streaming site without a valid certificate or secure connection puts its users information at risk of hackers, only an illegal site will care less about the consequences of such negligence for private information.  
> **username_6** (2018-11-29): To reinforce @AkiTanaka's point, I have a Funimation subscription and can watch certain Funimation shows for free.  (Since I pay I can watch the paid stuff, too.)  
---
