Last year, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized several domain names linked to Streameast, a popular live sports piracy site with millions of users.
The seizures were carried out by the book but did not achieve the desired effect. Streameast remained available through alternative and regularly updated domains.
At the time, the operator of the original Streameast operation, known by the handle ‘Quick’, noted that many Streameast-branded clone sites were not targeted in the government crackdown, despite pulling in more traffic than the original.
“Despite the existence of countless fake, fraudulent, infected, and misleading streaming sites, this attack was solely targeted at the real addresses of Streameast,” Quick wrote in a response.
ACE & Egypt Shut Down Streameast Network
After more than a year, Streameast is making headlines once again. This time around, however, the original Streameast was not targeted. Instead, the copycat clone sites were the focus of a massive anti-piracy operation.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) reports that alongside Egyptian authorities, it has shut down the world’s largest sports piracy ring; the Streameast network.
The MPA’s anti-piracy arm says that the network consisted of more than 80 domain names, reportedly good for 1.6 billion visits in the past year. Streameast.app, which had more traffic than the original Streameast, is now under ACE control along with the other domains.
The press release doesn’t identify any domains by name, but it states that some sites were targeted at specific sports. These sites did not necessarily carry Streameast branding and appear to include boxingbite.app, nbastreams.app, mlbbite.net, mlbstreamlinks.org, and reddit-nba.com.
A full list of the seized domains, independently identified by TorrentFreak, is available below. These will be redirected to ACE’s ‘Watch Legally’ page, which is typical in these types of cases.
A Victory For Rightsholders
Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), who also serves as Chairman of ACE, describes the massive takedown as a major anti-piracy milestone that protects rightsholders who invest in the live sports ecosystem.
“Today, 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,” Rivkin said.
Ed McCarthy, COO of DAZN Group, is pleased with the achievement too and congratulates ACE and Egypt for the resounding success.
“This criminal operation was siphoning value from sports at every level and putting fans across the world at risk. We commend the Egyptian authorities and ACE for their action in bringing down the world’s largest illegal sports streaming operation.”
The press release doesn’t mention that the original Streameast is still in operation, but ACE is undoubtedly aware of its existence, as this operation was at the center of a U.S. Government crackdown last year.
Streameast: We’re Fine
As the news broke, the original Streameast’s communication channel was overloaded with worried users, but operator Quick informed them that the service is operating as usual.
“We are not connected to them in any way (we’re not even Egyptian). We have not been raided, and our streams and work continue as usual. As we’ve always said: Do not use fake sites!”
ACE would undoubtedly prefer to shut down all major pirate streaming sites, but where Streameast is concerned the ‘copycat’ was actually the biggest fish. It’s therefore no surprise that they are pleased after shutting it down.
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Below is a list of all sites that were seized by ACE over the past days, including Streameast.app.
boxingbite.app, boxingstreams.app, buffstreams.app, buffstreamz.app, crichd.app, f1bite.app, f1streams.app, mlbstreams.app, mmabite.app, mmalive.app, mmastreams.app, nbastreams.app, nfllive.app, nflstreams.app, nhlstreams.app, streameast.app, ufctonight.app, vipleague.app, crackstreams.dad, boxingbite.net, f1bite.net, mlbbite.net, mlbshow.net, mmabite.net, nhlbite.net, redditnflstreams.net, rmlbstreams.net, rmmastreams.net, soccerbite.net, atdhe.club, allfloridasafetyinstitute.com, cfbite.com, googlapisapi.com, mlbshow.com, nflbite-streams.com, nflpulse.com, nflsurge.com, nhlbite.com, rboxingstreams.com, reddit-nba.com, reddit-nfl.com, redditmmastreams.com, redditnhlstreams.com, rmmastreams.com, rnbastreams.com, rncaafstreams.com, wnbabite.com, wnbastreams.com, totalsportek.fun, redditsoccerstreams.link, boxingstreamlinks.live, f1streamlinks.live, mlbstreamlinks.live, mmastreamlinks.live, nhlbite.live, redditcfbstreams.live, redditf1streams.live, redditmlbstreams.live, redditmmastreams.live, redditnbastreams.live, redditnflstreams.live, adstrim.org, boxingstreams.org, f1streamlinks.org, mlbstreamlinks.org, mmastreamlinks.org, nflbites.org, nflstreamlinks.org, nfltonight.org, nhlstreamlinks.org, redditnbastreams.org, thevipbox.org, streamingsites.review, nflbite.site, redditsports.stream, 1stream.top, nflbite.watch.
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