Live sports piracy site Streameast has been shut down following operations by Egyptian authorities in conjunction with an international antipiracy coalition.
The takedown of the piracy site, which was used in Ireland and was the largest illicit live sports streaming operation in the world, has been hailed as a “resounding victory” for digital rights owners.
Through 80 websites and domains, the network logged more than 1.6 billion visits in the past year, according to the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) which aided Egyptian authorities in their investigation.
Egyptian law enforcement has reportedly arrested two people in connection with their investigation, according to The Athletic.
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“ACE scored a resounding victory in its fight to detect, deter, and dismantle criminal perpetrators of digital piracy: by taking down the largest illegal live sports platform anywhere,” said Charles Rivkin, the chairman of ACE and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
“With this landmark action, we have put more points on the board for sports leagues, entertainment companies, and fans worldwide – and our global alliance will stay on the field as long as it takes to identify and target the biggest piracy rings across the globe,” he said.
Streameast was best known for offering users illicit access to matches from the English Premier League, as well as the Spanish La Liga, and Italy’s top league the Serie A, among others. In addition to football, the piracy network also provided illicit to other sporting events such as boxing, a series of US sports such as National Football League (NFL) and Formula 1 events.
The takedown of Streameast was described as “a major victory for everyone who invests in and relies on the live sports ecosystem” by Ed McCarthy, the chief operating officer of DAZN Group.
He said the “criminal operation was siphoning value from sports at every level and putting fans across the world at risk” and commended the Egyptian authorities and ACE for takin down the streaming operation.
Site traffic to the various domains originated primarily from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Philippines and Germany, with traffic also coming from Ireland, with Irish users on social media noting their dissatisfaction with the announcement by ACE.
Internet domains which previously held illicit sports streams have been replaced by a message from ACE urging users to watch the sports through legal means and directing them to paid sources.
A number of social media accounts purporting to have a connection to the piracy site have claimed the operation has not taken down all of the piracy network’s domains.
