ACE Dismantles One of the Biggest Sports Piracy Rings Worldwide

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has successfully dismantled one of the biggest sports piracy operations in the world.

This high-profile takedown targeted a network of 138 domains, including some of the most notorious piracy sites.

A Record-Breaking Takedown

ACE revealed that the illicit network attracted over 812 million visits in the last year, making it one of the largest sports piracy rings ever shut down.

Among the domains taken offline were markkystreams.com, streameast.to, crackstreams.dev, weakspell.to, and other notable sports websites.

These sites offered unauthorized streams of live sports events, including content from prominent U.S. and international sports leagues.

This takedown represents ACE’s largest victory in the realm of sports piracy, following a rigorous investigation that tracked the operation back to its Vietnam-based operators.

The individuals behind the network agreed to transfer 138 domains to ACE, effectively dismantling the entire operation.

If you visit any of these websites you will now find ACE’s watch legally page.

This illegal network primarily targeted audiences in the U.S. and Canada, streaming games daily from leagues around the globe.

Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer for the Motion Picture Association (MPA), commented the following:

“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. ACE’s live sports members face a unique threat when it comes to digital piracy, as live sports broadcasts lose substantial commercial value once the game ends. The takedown serves as a warning to piracy operators everywhere – including operators in live sports piracy – that ACE will identify and shut down their illegal operations.”

This ACE members that were most impacted by this pirate operation including beIN Sports, Canal+, and DAZN.

Ed McCarthy, Chief Operating Officer of DAZN, also had some thoughts on this shutdown:

“DAZN stands with ACE in the fight to eradicate piracy, which undermines the sports ecosystem at all levels. It is very pleasing that a criminal operation of this scale was taken down. Piracy often compromises the security of fans’ data, which is then used for illegal purposes, so the closure of this piracy ring has the added benefit that potential subscribers will be guided toward legitimate content providers like DAZN.”

Final Thoughts

While this takedown represents a significant victory for ACE and anti-piracy authorities, it underscores the ongoing challenge of combating illegal streaming operations.

The closure of this large network is a step forward, but the nature of online piracy is still an endless game of whac-a-mole, with new sites frequently emerging to take the place of those shut down.

To help curb piracy media companies must also look beyond enforcement. Making legitimate streaming services more affordable and accessible could help reduce the demand for illegal alternatives.

For more information on this story, refer to the press release from ACE.

We want to know your thoughts on this story. What do you think about this latest shutdown from ACE? Let us know in the comment section below!

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