US law enforcement officials have kicked off a crackdown against unauthorized sports streaming sites by seizing a number of domains ahead of Super Bowl weekend.
Confiscated domains include Firstrowsports.tv, Firstrowsports.com, Firstrowsports.net and Soccertvlive.net. As expected, the seized domains redirect users to a page that displays the official DOJ and ICE seizure notification.
However, as Torrent Freak notes, one of the domains remains available via Firstrow.tv, and as of this morning, the domain is still active. Of course, additional closures are likely on the way.
Domain seizures in the run up to the Super Bowl and other major sports events are hardly a rare occurence.
In 2011, federal agencies confiscated a number of streaming sites, including the Spanish-owned Rojadirecta, and the Texas-based ChannelSurfing.net.
Interestingly enough, the Spanish owned site has been declared legal by two courts in Spain, yet US authorities still deemed the site illegal and uncermoniously seized the domain.
Puerto 80, which administers Rojadirecta, has been fighting in US courts to restore its domain, an effort that has thus far proven unsuccessful. Meanwhile, ChannelSurfing.net owner Brian McCarthy was taken into custody on suspicion of criminal copyright infringement and is reportedly still awaiting trial.
