Illegal sports TV streams are popular all around the world—so much so that they’re among the most popular IPTV offerings alongside classic streaming content from Netflix, Prime Video, etc. Unsurprisingly, these streams are also a huge thorn in the sides of authorities.
But yesterday, sports piracy took a huge blow after Egyptian police successfully took down Streameast, the largest known provider of illegal sports streaming content. According to the US-based Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), Streameast (and its 80+ related domains) were recently taken offline.
With around 1.6 billion visitors per year and content offerings from around the globe—including Champions League matches to Formula 1 races to MMA fights to other sports like the NFL, NBA, and NHL—Streameast was the most iconic provider of pirated sports streams.
The operators of Streameast were reportedly tracked down in a large-scale operation on August 24th. Two men from Cairo, who were arrested by police, were apparently responsible for running the sites and have been operating for around 15 years. They also apparently invested a large part of their income in bogus companies and property. It isn’t yet known whether revenue from the streaming portals or material assets were confiscated in the process.
All existing Streameast domains will now be redirected to an ACE information page that highlights 140+ legal providers of streaming content and live broadcasts.
More action against illegal providers
Authorities around the world are increasingly taking action against providers of illegal streaming services, and more and more operators have been arrested in recent years. As a rule, they operate professionally and disguise their operations by distributing offers to potential users via numerous intermediaries and splitting them across several domains.
However, users of such sites should be careful because piracy sites can be attack vectors for viruses and other malware. In some jurisdictions, use of illegal streams can result in steep fines and claims for damages.
Even if it’s unlikely that the authorities will be able to trace every single user, the providers and their intermediaries usually keep logs of user activity and their associated payment methods, which can then be used to prosecute users after a service takedown.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.