The Justice Department says federal agents seized hundreds of internet domains alleged to illegally stream FIFA World Cup matches. The Justice Department puts the total at nearly 400. TorrentFreak independently traced many examples, but says its list is unofficial and incomplete.
In late June, the Justice Department said federal agents seized domains used to stream FIFA World Cup matches without permission. DOJ says the operation targeted domains used to stream FIFA World Cup matches.
What was seized
The public DOJ release TechWalrus checked did not include a full domain list. The DOJ credits cooperation from FIFA and media and anti-piracy partners including beIN Media Group, NBCUniversal, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, UFC, and Warner Bros.
DOJ says HSI agents identified domain names associated with sites that offered unauthorized match streams. That line matters more than the court paperwork. The DOJ release describes the seized domains as having been used to stream World Cup matches.
The DOJ release says servers and domains linked to unauthorized streaming were targeted in Peru and Bulgaria. Related disruptions also took place in Croatia, Romania, Poland, and Colombia.
The domain list is messy
TorrentFreak traced many names by watching them point to seizedservers.com, which it says has been used in United States government seizure actions. It also says the list is not official or complete. That caveat matters. These examples are traced or observed examples, not a DOJ-published roll call.
TorrentFreak's DNS checks highlighted domains including these five, and TechWalrus spot-checked them. Several displayed what appeared to be a United States government seizure notice. This was our own observation at that time, not part of an official DOJ list:
- Domain kora-shoot.com.
- Domain beinmatchtv.com.
- Domain rojadirectastv.org.
- Domain fbstream.cc.
- Domain kooraliveworldcup.com.
Three kinds of evidence sit behind the examples. DOJ confirms the enforcement action and partner support. TorrentFreak supplies the unofficial domain trail. The TechWalrus checks only show what selected domains returned when tested. Those are three different kinds of evidence, and the article keeps them separate.
One checked page is shown below. TechWalrus relies on DOJ and TorrentFreak's reporting that these domains pointed to seizure infrastructure and does not independently accuse their operators of unlawful activity.
TorrentFreak DNS-traced domains
Why it won't stop piracy
TorrentFreak reports that some traced domains had old lives. One had looked like a fitness blog. Another had CBD content. Another had a music project. They later appeared on its seizure-tracking list after being repurposed.
The seizure also shows the limit of a domain raid. A seized .com domain can be taken offline through registry action in this kind of operation, but similar sites using other domain endings can remain online. TorrentFreak notes that some similar streaming sites appeared to stay up after the seizures.
Domain seizures can disrupt access during a live tournament. They can break old links, search results, and bookmarks for those specific sites, even if copycats or replacement domains stay online.
TorrentFreak lapsed-domain notes
Fans get the ugly trade
The DOJ release quotes an HSI warning that many illicit streaming sites may expose viewers to malware attacks or unsafe connections that could compromise personal and financial data. HSI's warning emphasizes that these sites can pose security risks for viewers.
