Egypt and ACE shut down Streameast illegal sports streaming network

Egyptian authorities, working with a U.S.-based antipiracy coalition, have shut down Streameast, a sprawling illegal sports streaming network that the coalition said logged more than 1.6 billion visits in the past year and operated some 80 associated domains. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment said the operation, which offered unauthorized streams of top European soccer competitions as well as major U.S. sports and pay-per-view events, was taken offline following a yearlong investigation and a raid in Egypt on August 24.

ACE, the coalition led by the Motion Picture Association, described Streameast as the largest illicit live sports streaming operation in the world. According to ACE, the network provided free access to matches from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1, UEFA club competitions and international qualifiers, as well as U.S. sports including the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, alongside pay-per-view boxing, mixed martial arts and motorsports coverage. ACE said most site traffic originated from the United States and Canada, with additional visitors from the United Kingdom, the Philippines and Germany; the group reported an...