The End of Free Streams? Streameast Taken Down Under Copyright Law

[1]

Streameast was once a sprawling global sports-streaming piracy network- until a coalition of media companies and Egyptian authorities took down the site.[2] The popularity of Streameast and sites like it create an interesting study on the tension between digital media access and intellectual property enforcement.  By dismantling Streameast, authorities and media rights holders have signaled they aim to abolish live sports piracy once and for all.

Why Streameast Became a Target

Streameast’s very existence undercuts the exclusive broadcast rights that are the backbone of sports media deals. By streaming games without authorization, pirating sites like Streameast directly challenged the economic model that copyright law is designed to protect.  Streameast reportedly operated across more than 80 affiliated domains and logged over 1.6 billion visits in a single year, making it the largest reported illicit live-sports streaming operation globally.[3] Because its traffic was heavily concentrated in jurisdictions with enforceable rights (notably the U.S., U.K., and Canada), and because live sports rights generate high commercial value, it presented a high-profile target for enforcement.[4]

Specifically in the United States, recent expansions of statutory criminal copyright law, notably the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act, have closed prior gaps that have shielded streaming services from felony exposure, making large-scale piracy a more enforceable target.[5]

Sports rights holders- including media giants such as Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix, and Paramount- have intensified their anti-piracy efforts[6] in response to declining subscription and pay-per-view revenue.[7] These corporations have joined the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment ("ACE") to pursue transnational action against digital piracy platforms.

The ACE collaborated with Egyptian law enforcement to disrupt Streameast’s dominant position in the illegal streaming market, culminating in a coordinated takedown on Sunday, August 24.[8] Police in El-Sheikh Zaid, a suburb of Cairo, arrested two men suspected of operating Streameast.[9]

Legal Violations: What Laws Did Streameast Likely Break?

Streameast was quickly replaced with a seizure notice, signaling that U.S. authorities- including Homeland Security Investigation- were directly involved in the action. The notice referenced copyright violations and stated that Streameast’s activities implicated U.S. criminal law. The notice pointed to statutes such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), which prohibits the reproduction or distribution of copyrighted material[10], and Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which provides the grounds for criminal prosecution of infringement.[11] Title 18 outlines criminal penalties for copyright infringement, which can include both fines and imprisonment, but the specific penalties vary based on the nature and scale of the offense.  Under Title 18, penalties for willful infringement carried out for commercial advantage or financial gain can include fines of up to $250,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both, depending on the scope and severity of the offense.[12]

Rights Holders’ Goals

The scope of this battle goes beyond the targeting of one pirating website. The coordinated international takedown of a piracy giant like Streameast sends a clear message that piracy networks of this scale will attract law enforcement, thereby discouraging other operators from entering the market.  “Our global alliance will stay on the field as long as it takes to identify and target the biggest piracy rings across the globe,” ACE chairman Charles Rivkin said in a statement.[13]

Sports media rights payments across major American sports will total $29.25 billion in 2025 and are expected to grow to over $37 billion by 2030 as new broadcasting deals are signed.[14]  Unfortunately for these media companies and their massive investments, piracy remains a growing threat.  A 2023 study found that 11% of U.S. adults (roughly 23 million) pirated content in the previous year.[15]  When millions of viewers opt for free streams over paid subscriptions, the resulting losses in subscription and pay-per-view revenue become impossible to ignore.

Confronted with the persistence of piracy, broadcasters face a difficult choice: lower prices to make live sports more accessible to average fans- a difficult choice given the billions they spent securing exclusive rights- or intensify enforcement efforts against illegal streaming platforms. Most have chosen the latter. Still, some organizations are experimenting with a new approach. The Ultimate Fighting Championship ("UFC"), for instance, has moved away from the traditional pay-per-view model and partnered with Paramount to offer all events, including ones that were pay-per-view under their former deal with Entertainment and Sports Programming Network ("ESPN"), as part of their base monthly subscription of around eight dollars.[16] 

For media companies, exclusivity is everything. When fans can consistently find games for free, the market value of those exclusive rights erodes. Lowering prices might expand access, but it also undermines the perceived value of the product. The Streameast takedown illustrates what the major media companies would prefer to do: confront piracy directly to protect the value of exclusivity. By dismantling a platform as large as Streameast, rights holders aim not only to shut down one operation but also to discourage a significant number of consumers from normalizing piracy as an alternative to legitimate access- while making accessing illicit streaming increasingly inconvenient.

Jordan Lewis (staff writer) Jordan is a 1L from Penn Valley, PA.  He graduated from the University of Maryland - College Park with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice.  Jordan is a lifelong Philadelphia sports fan, rooting for all four major sports teams in the City.  On campus, Jordan is also an SBA 1L Representative and in his free time, he loves playing golf.  Following graduation, Jordan hopes to stay in Philadelphia for work- likely in the corporate field. 

References:

[1] Young adults watching soccer game together on laptop at home and... iStock. (n.d.). https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/multiracial-couple-enjoying-watching-football-game-together-at-home-in-living-room-gm2184739203-603549931?utm_campaign=srp_photos_bottom&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Funsplash.com%2Fs%2Fphotos%2Fwatching-sports-on-computer&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=unsplash&utm_term=watching%2Bsports%2Bon%2Bcomputer%3A%3Aad-balancing-template%3Acontrol 

[2] Leventhal, A. (2025, September 3). Streameast, world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform, shut down in Sting. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6591670/2025/09/03/streameast-worlds-largest-illegal-sports-streaming-platform-shut-down-in-sting/

[3] Id.

[4] Press, The Associated. (2025, September 3). Notorious online soccer piracy network streameast shut down, Antipiracy Group says. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/soccer-streaming-piracy-e90321f28fc061fdeac96acf2a258af7

[5] Vondran, S. (2025, September 15). The ongoing piracy battle between ACE Alliance and ... Vondran Legal. https://www.vondranlegal.com/the-ongoing-piracy-battle-between-ace-alliance-and-streameast

[6] Id.

[7] Burch, S. (2024, December 31). Stream fatigue? Americans spent 23% less on streaming services in 2024, study finds. TheWrap. https://www.thewrap.com/americans-spent-23-percent-less-on-streaming-services-in-2024/

[8] Supra The Associated Press.

[9] Supra Leventhal

[10] See The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Title II

[11] See 18 U.S. Code § 2319

[12] Wallin, P. (2014, July 24). Consequences of pirating copyrighted material (17 U.S.C. § 506; 18 U.S.C. § 2319). Wallin & Klarich. https://www.wklaw.com/consequences-of-pirating-copyrighted-material/

[13] Supra Leventhal

[14] Robson, S. (2025, April 14). Sports rights in the US to reach $37 billion by 2030. S&P Global Market Intelligence. https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/sports-rights-in-the-us-to-reach-37-billion-by-2030

[15] Bridge, G. (2023, March 7). Survey: 1 in 10 U.S. adults pirated TV, movies or Live sports in 2022 . Variety. https://variety.com/2023/biz/entertainment-industry/one-in-ten-us-adults-pirated-tv-movies-or-live-sports-in-2022-1235525708/

[16] Koblin, J. (2025, August 11). Paramount strikes seven-year deal to stream UFC fights. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/business/paramount-ufc-fights-deal.html