AP
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Notorious on-line soccer piracy network Streameast has been shut down after greater than 1.6 billion visits previously yr, an antipiracy coalition introduced Wednesday.
The United States-based Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) mentioned the shutdown was made in collaboration with Egyptian authorities.
With its 80 related domains, Streameast was the biggest illicit live sports activities streaming operation on the planet, ACE mentioned.
“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,” ACE chairman Charles Rivkin said in the announcement.
“With this landmark action, we have put more points on the board for sports leagues, entertainment companies, and fans worldwide,” added Rivkin, who is also chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association.
Streameast supplied customers unauthorized entry to matches throughout Europe’s top soccer leagues.
Soccer piracy has skyrocketed over the past twenty years with leagues promoting their matches to high-priced pay-per-view and streaming companies. Many leagues promote to multiple broadcaster – requiring followers to pay for a number of subscriptions.
“Dismantling Streameast is a major victory for everyone who invests in and relies on the live sports ecosystem,” mentioned Ed McCarthy, chief working officer of the DAZN streaming group. “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 addition to soccer, Streameast supplied entry to sport-specific piracy websites for American sports activities just like the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.
Site site visitors to the varied domains originated primarily from the US, Canada, Britain, the Philippines and Germany, ACE mentioned.
All Streameast websites now redirect to the ACE “Watch Legally” web page.