ACE and Egyptian Authorities Shut Down Major Live Sports Piracy Ring
Livehd7 Network Gave Users Illicit Access to Live Sports, Drawing More Than 17 Million Monthly Visits
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Egyptian authorities collaborated with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world's leading antipiracy coalition, to shut down a notorious sports piracy network that illegally streamed live football/soccer matches to audiences around the world.
This action is the latest in a series of takedowns in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In recent months, ACE has worked with local MENA authorities to shutter unlawful streaming operations. Major takedowns include Laroza, formerly the largest piracy site in the MENA, taken down last month; Cima4U, which operated nearly 500 illegal domains and was shut down in January; and five other MENA-based piracy rings closed in 2024.
Operating since late 2020, Livehd7's network of live streaming websites and at least 85 associated domains offered users access to matches from Europe's top football/soccer leagues including England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga, France's Ligue 1 and Portugal's Primeira Liga, as well as the United States' Major League Soccer (MLS) and domestic cup competitions in those countries. The content also included all UEFA club competitions and international qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro and EUEFA Nations League, and CONMEBOL Copa America.
"We applaud the excellent work of Egyptian law enforcement in protecting the intellectual property rights of ACE's sports media company members," said Motion Picture Association (MPA) Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer, Larissa Knapp. "The piracy of live sports is especially detrimental and poses an existential threat to sports leagues and their distribution partners, as a live sports broadcast loses substantial commercial value once a game ends. ACE remains committed to collaborating closely with the Egyptian Police to bring illegal operators to justice."
Through its various domains, the Livehd7 network logged more than 17 million monthly visits — more than 257 million visits in the past year. Site traffic originated primarily from Egypt, KSA, France, Germany, and the United States.
"Egyptian-operated piracy websites are popular across the MENA and Arabic-speaking markets generally, causing detrimental harm to our industry," said Cameron Andrews, Legal Director of Anti-Piracy at beIN MEDIA GROUP. "According to our research, in the MENA region alone, they cost beIN over a $1 billion USD a year and threaten the viability of our business, which in turn has a direct effect on what broadcasters can pay for sports rights. We are very pleased to see action being taken as ACE continues to set a precedent in the fight against piracy."
In addition to European and North American leagues, the illicitly streamed content included national leagues in the MENA such as the Saudi Pro League.
The ring operators frequently built new domains to circumvent site blocking and other enforcement measures implemented in the countries where users accessed the illicit content.
All sites will be redirecting to the ACE "Watch Legally" page.
About The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is the world's leading coalition dedicated to protecting the legal creative market and reducing digital piracy. Driven by a comprehensive approach to addressing piracy through criminal referrals, civil litigation, and cease-and-desist operations, ACE has achieved many successful global enforcement actions against illegal streaming services and unauthorized content sources and their operators. Drawing upon the collective expertise and resources of more than 50 media and entertainment companies around the world—including sports channels and associations—and reinforced by the Motion Picture Association's content protection operations, ACE protects the creativity and innovation that drives the global growth of core copyright and entertainment industries. The current governing board members for ACE are Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE.
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