World’s largest illegal sports streaming platform shut down

It was visited 1.6 billion times last year

The largest illegal sports streaming platform in the world has been shut down, according to The Athletic.

Illegal streaming sites are those that distribute content like live sports and movies often for free without copyright.

The site Streameast, which was the largest provider of illegal sports content on the planet, was brought down after a successful sting operation in Egypt.

Streameast was a complex network of 80 unauthorised domains that provided free access to a range of global sports fixtures, like the Premier League and Champions League, as well as high-profile US sports like the NFL, NBA and MLB.

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Over the past year those 80 domains received 1.6 billion visits.

The operation to dismantle Streameast's network took place on the 24th of August and was carried out by a group called the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) who worked alongside Egyptian law enforcement officials.

ACE is a coalition of organisations like Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix and Paramount with an interest in cutting back on illegal piracy.

Two people were arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement and a series of phones and laptops were seized by authorities which are suspected to have been used to operate the illegal sites.

Charles Rivkin, the chairman of ACE and chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) released this statement at the conclusion of the successful operation.

It reads: "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.

“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.”