Federal authorities on Feb. 1 seized ten websites that have allegedly hosted illegal streams of UFC pay-per-views, as well as National Football League, World Wrestling Entertainment, and other live sporting events.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Souther District of New York announced the seizures on Feb. 2. The seizures, conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), targeted ten of the most popular websites supposedly used for illegal streaming of copyrighted events: ATDHE.net, ChannelSurfing.net, HQ-Streams.net, HQ-Streams.com, FirstRow.net, ILEMI.com, ILLEMI.com, IILEMII.com, RojaDirecta.org, and RojaDirecta.com.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the following:
The illegal streaming of professional sporting events over the Internet deals a financial body blow to the leagues and broadcasters who are forced to pass their losses off to fans by raising prices for tickets and pay-per-view events. With the Super Bowl just days away, the seizures of these infringing websites reaffirm our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect copyrighted material and put the people who steal it out of business.
The news comes as the UFC is set to hold one of it’s biggest pay-per-view events of the year on Feb. 5, UFC 126, featuring a middleweight title bout between champion Anderson Silva and challenger Vitor Belfort. The UFC annually holds a PPV to coincide with Super Bowl weekend.
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