In a pre-Super Bowl sweep, federal agents are seizing numerous live-streaming websites accused of broadcasting unauthorized sporting events.
Much like the federal government did a year ago, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Attorney's Office worked to shut down ten live-stream domains, agents are once again cracking down on streaming sites in the days leading up until the NFL's biggest game.
The new round of domain seizures, which began on Thursday, has resulted in the takedown of a total of 16 sports streaming sites thus far, including the sites firstrow.tv, xonesports.tv, firstrowsports.tv, firstrowsports.net, firstrowsports.com, hq-streams.tv, robplay.tv, soccertvlive.net, sports95.net, sports95.com, sports95.org, sportswwe.net, sportswwe.tv, sportswwe.com, youwwe.net and youwwe.com.
Yonjo Quiroa, a 28-year-old man from Comstock Park, Michigan, who is alleged to be the owner and operator of nine of the sixteen seized domains, was taken into custody by authorities working with Homeland Security Investigations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, John Morton, is labeling the crackdown, dubbed 'Operation Fake Sweep', a victory.
“While most people are focusing on whether the Patriots or Giants will win on Sunday, we at ICE have our sights on a different type of victory: defeating the international counterfeiting rings that illegally profit off of this event, the NFL, its players and sports fans,” Morton said in a statement.
“In sports, players must abide by rules of the game, and in life, individuals must follow the laws of the land. Our message is simple: abiding by intellectual property rights laws is not optional; it’s the law.”
Despite the collective efforts of the federal government, it remains to be seen whether the latest round of seizures will dramatically impact the live-stream internet culture. Last year, following the seizure of ATDHE.net, a popular streaming site that broadcasted numerous sporting and pay-per-view events, the website re-spawned at a new web address, ATDHE.me, in a matter of hours.
Still, any effort to thwart the illegal broadcasting of the Super Bowl is appreciated by the NFL, says the league's Vice Presdient of Legal Affaris, Anastasia Danias.
“We are grateful for Homeland Security Investigations’ tireless efforts in combating intellectual property theft and are pleased to be working along with them and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on this important issue,” he said.
Image credit: Wikipedia Commons
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