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US Attorney Erek Barron announced the seizure of 55 separate websites for allegedly live-streaming the World Cup games for profit in violation of FIFA copyrights, effectively shuttering the sites’ services.
Instead, soccer fans looking to pirate the games on the steaming sites will see a new message stating that the site has been seized by the federal government, which will then redirect users to another site for additional information.
The investigation into the illegal sites was launched in September, when Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was tipped off by a FIFA representative identifying several sites being used to distribute and transmit copyright-infringing content, without FIFA’s authorization,’ prosecutors said.
HSI Agents in Maryland reviewed World Cup games accessible from each of the subject domain names, and found they were in violation of FIFA’s copyright.
According to the affidavit, “free access to live sports-related copyright-protected content can attract heavy viewing traffic, which makes websites offering such content a potentially lucrative way to serve advertisements.
“Based on the pervasive use of advertising on each site, the affidavit alleges that the purpose for distributing the infringing content is the private financial gain to these websites’ operators."
By seizing the subject domain names the government prevents third parties from acquiring the name and using it to commit additional crimes, or from continuing to access the websites in their present forms, according to prosecutors.
“HSI will continue to focus on removing websites that facilitate digital piracy, and other intellectual property violations, from the internet,” Special Agent in Charge James Harris III of HSI Baltimore said.
“While many may believe that such websites do not constitute serious threats, the infringement upon rights holders of any intellectual property is a growing threat to our economic viability,” he continued. “The impact can be felt across multiple industries, and it can be the conduit to other forms of criminal activity.”
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