ACE Shutters One of the Largest Live Sports Piracy Rings in the World
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s leading anti-piracy coalition, has successfully dismantled a major live sports piracy ring based in Vietnam. This operation, comprising 138 domains, collectively garnered 812 million visits over the past year, marking it as one of the largest sports piracy networks globally and ACE’s most significant takedown to date.
Key Details:
• Primary Domains Involved:
• bestsolaris.com
• streameast.to
• markkystreams.com
• crackstreams.dev
• weakspell.to
• Geographical Reach: The illicit streaming services primarily targeted audiences in the United States and Canada, offering unauthorized access to a wide range of sports events, including major U.S. sports leagues and various global competitions.
• Enforcement Action: Through a comprehensive global investigation, ACE identified and approached the operators based in Hanoi. The operators agreed to transfer all 138 associated domains to ACE, leading to the immediate cessation of their illegal activities.
• Impact on ACE Members: The piracy operation adversely affected all ACE members, notably its sports broadcasting partners such as beIN Sports, Canal+, and DAZN.
Statements:
• Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer for the Motion Picture Association (MPA): “The shutdown of this globally notorious live sports piracy ring is a huge victory in our campaign against the piracy of live sports programs and follows other recent successful actions by ACE and law enforcement in Vietnam.”
• Ed McCarthy, Chief Operating Officer of DA … : “DAZN stands with ACE in … . It is very pleasing that a criminal … .”
This decisive action underscores ACE’s commitment to protecting intellectual property rights and serves as a stern warning to operators of illegal streaming services worldwide. By redirecting users from the seized domains to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page, the coalition aims to promote legitimate avenues for content consumption and safeguard the interests of content creators and distributors.
