Illegal streaming has been a thorn in the side of Dana White and company for years. Dana has been outspoken about the issue on several occasions. Now the UFC has taken action and shut down www.cagewatcher.eu. Not only have they shut down the site but it appears they will be looking to prosecute those who took advantage of the illegal streaming.
A press release detailed what happened.
As part of the on-going initiative against online piracy, Zuffa, LLC, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization, successfully took down and seized the records of www.cagewatcher.eu, a website that illegally streamed two UFC pay-per-view events.
UFC has obtained details of the streaming site’s userbase, including email addresses, IP addresses, user names and information pertaining to individuals who watched pirated UFC events including UFC 169. Also recovered were chat transcripts from the website. Using this data, UFC will work with Lonstein Law Office to prosecute identified infringers.
Lonstein Law Office has successfully prosecuted hundreds of claims for the UFC organization for sites illegally streaming content and individual users since 2007. UFC’s status as the industry leader in pay-per-view television has helped it become a leader in cracking down on companies and individuals watching and facilitating the watching of pay-per-view events online, without paying.
How do you feel about the viewers being subject to prosecution? It has the feel of the Napster scandal back in the day that pretty much paved the way to the huge evolution of the music business.