U.S. Government Cracking Down on Sports Sites’ Livestreaming Ahead Of Super Bowl

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With the Super Bowl around the corner, it’s probably no surprise that people all over the US are getting excited – more surprising, perhaps, is that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement forces are amongst those most active in the run-up to the big day.

Federal officials are seizing sports-streaming websites in advance of Superbowl Sunday in an attempt to protect broadcasters and sports leagues from losing millions of dollars thanks to illegal streaming of games as part of the ongoing “Operation In Our Sites.” The official press release for the most recent seizures quotes U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara explaining,

The illegal streaming of professional sporting events over the Internet deals a financial body blow to the leagues and broadcasters who are forced to pass their losses off to the fans in the form of higher priced tickets and pay-per-view events. With the Super Bowl just days away, the seizures of these infringing websites reaffirm our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect copyrighted material and put the people who steal it out of business.

The ten sites seized – hq-streams.com, hq-streams.net, adthe.net, firstrow.net, channelsurfing.net, ilemi,com, iilemi.com, iilemii.com, rojadirecta.org, and rojadirecta.com – represent the third phase of “In Our Sites,” which has previously seized domain names offering pirated movies in June and November of last year.

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