Two of the most prominent pirate streaming sites, MethStreams and the most recent iteration of CrackStreams, went dark on Monday in response to a coordinated effort by leagues, media companies, regulators, and law enforcement.

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), an anti-piracy organization, said it has helped shut down hundreds of unauthorized East-Stream websites. Many were situated in Thailand and Vietnam, which had received over 800 million visitors in the previous year.

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) reported that it effectively targeted the Hanoi-based gang responsible for websites such as StreamEast, CrackStreams, WeakSpell, MarkkyStreams, Methstreams, Crackstreams and BestSolaris, which received more than 812 million visits from sports enthusiasts in the previous year.

According to ACE, pirates illegally redistributed games aired on BeIn Sports, Canal Plus, DAZN, and other platforms without compensating the genuine rights holders. The pirates mostly targeted sports lovers in the United States and Canada.

Crackdown on Illegal Streaming Sites

The crackdown resulted in the group handing possession of roughly 140 domain names to ACE, but a quick scan of social media platforms such as Reddit and X (previously Twitter) revealed that new domains for StreamEast and CrackStreams were already live.

Other sites like zombi24.com have also emerged to fill the gap left by these takedowns, continuing to offer pirated sports content to a global audience. Despite ongoing efforts by ACE and rights holders to combat such operations, zombi24.com and similar platforms remain a challenge to shut down completely.

ACE Executive Vice President Larissa Knapp described the probe as a “huge victory in our campaign against the piracy of live sports programs,” It follows other successful prosecutions against pirates who illegally stream sports and entertainment content online.

𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Popular sport streaming sites Methstreams and Crackstreams have been taken down and are no longer in use.

Millions of sports fans will be impacted by this. pic.twitter.com/oRmQ3Vl0VH

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 30, 2024

The illegal East Stream sites frequently use foreign feeds, meaning the programs (and advertisements) are frequently not meant for US listeners. In severe circumstances, the lost money could jeopardize the viability of sports organizers and the events they host.

According to piracy-tracking firm VFT, 17 million individuals watched the 2024 Super Bowl on unauthorized streams such as Methstreams and Crackstreams.

Methstreams and Crackstreams were removed because they were accused of copyright infringement of live sports feeds, and online service providers (OSPs) followed their legal obligations to compel takedowns.

Faster Takedowns Saught By Sports Organizations

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a major federal act to combat privacy. It dates back to 1998 when many people used dial-up modems to access the Internet, and live streaming was unavailable.

Leagues have claimed that the DMCA is too slow, with a notification and takedown process unsuitable for live sports streaming. The process involves the content creator informing an OSP (such as YouTube or Facebook) that it is broadcasting an unauthorized stream.

The OSP is then required to investigate and, if necessary, take action, but hours or days may pass before a stream is withdrawn.

Sports organizations have pushed Congress and the United States Patent and Trademark Office to propose steps requiring OSPs to respond faster and use more sophisticated verification methods before allowing users to crackstreams.

Blocking access to feeds broadcast from abroad can be significantly more challenging and frequently necessitates intervention from the internet service providers hosting or distributing the content.

A recent study in France discovered that over half of the viewers of a Ligue 1 match accessed the game illegally. Professional Football League Media CEO Ben Morel labeled piracy as a “dangerous tipping point” for the sport.

France’s rules empower rights holders to demand that digital companies take steps to prevent major violations of their broadcasting rights.

Google DMCA Takedown

DMCA Take-Down Notices

When Google was asked to engage in one such initiative last summer, it reportedly signaled a willingness to comply, pointing out that the impact would likely be small.

According to Remove Your Media, an anti-piracy solution for Mainstream Production Companies, traffic to unlicensed worldwide crack stream sites has increased despite efforts to curb their spread. Remove Your Media regularly receives requests to remove illegal content from Google Search results that infringe on copyright.

The DMCA can potentially serve as a legal instrument in pursuing unlawful streaming. Protecting content creators’ rights is of the utmost importance in the current digital era, as entertainment content can be seamlessly disseminated across the internet.

Copyright holders, such as movie studios or music labels, who discover their content is being streamed without authorization on websites or platforms can initiate the DMCA procedure.

This commences with the issue of a DMCA notice to the service provider that hosts the infringing content. This notice includes a statement that asserts a good faith belief of copyright infringement, the contact details of the copyright proprietor, and specific information about the copyrighted material.