Popular piracy website Streameast is back to illegally streaming sporting events, just 13 months after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized the domain.
In August 2024, HSI seized several domains belonging to the Streameast piracy network, including some backup domains. After the seizure, trying to access those sites resulted in a pop-up from HSI stating, ‘THIS DOMAIN HAS BEEN SEIZED.”
At the time, Streameast was one of the most well-known sites in the US for watching sporting events, including from the NBA, NFL, and MLB, illegally and even claimed LeBron James as a user.
HSI never issued a statement about shutting down Streameast. However, the banner that appeared on the seized sites stated that HSI had taken over the sites through a warrant from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Still, it didn’t take long for the owners of Streameast to bring back the illicit service through alternative domain names, as reported by TorrentFreak.
Now, one of the domain names that the HSI took over is back in the hands of its original, pirating owners. This happened without any litigation. Instead, the previous owners of the site were able to re-register Streameast’s primary domain name after it expired “earlier this year,” TorrentFreak reported this week. Some Streameast domains still show HSI’s seizure banner, but the original Streameast domain is streaming pirated sporting events again.
A curious turn of events
This is a surprising development considering the effort from HSI to take the site down. Streameast was still operating under alternative domain names, but the return of the original site will enable even more illegal sports streaming.
The domain's return is also a stark contrast to the recent takedown of a different, separately owned Streameast sports piracy operation that the owners of the original Streameast have referred to as a “copycat.” In September, the second Streameast was taken down by a collaboration that included Egyptian authorities, Europol, the US Department of Justice, the Office of the US Trade Representative, and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre, as well as Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a global antipiracy group whose members include Apple TV+ and Netflix.
The US government has previously seized domains for years. TorrentFreak noted that the US government has been regularly renewing the domain name for Megaupload, which it seized in 2012, for example.
At a minimum, Streameast's return is a sign of the complexities in ending illicit sports streaming. Pirating sports remains high as watching live events has become more complicated and expensive, as games and leagues are spread out across numerous streaming services and networks.
The expired domain could also suggest a decreased focus on fighting online piracy by HSI. Notably, HSI is part of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which has been focused on ramping up deportations since January. Before the current administration took over, HSI sought to distance itself somewhat from ICE’s reputation, including by launching a new website in 2024. However, that website now redirects to ICE’s website, and HSI's announcement of the new website is now archived, which means it is “not reflective of current practice,” ICE says. Notably, ICE’s website says HSI is a “key player” in the US government's efforts to combat “pirated content.”
Alternatively, the loss of the domain could represent an oversight by the US government. HSI didn’t respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment.
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