The U.S. Department of Justice says it has seized more than 1,000 web domains used to illegally stream World Cup matches. According to reports, the seizures are part of multiple enforcement actions carried out during the tournament and based on investigations involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, along with other federal partners.
The outlets report that the DOJ announced the seizures on July 20 and that the domains targeted websites that streamed World Cup content without authorization. The DOJ’s actions include taking control of infrastructure connected to the sites, and the announcements describe efforts spanning several locations outside the United States.
One report specifies that servers associated with the targeted domains were addressed in countries including Peru, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Poland and Colombia. Overall, the coverage is consistent that the DOJ seized more than 1,000 domains and that the cases relate to copyright and intellectual-property enforcement tied to unauthorized broadcasting of World Cup games.
