UK homes suffer massive streaming crackdown that blocks watching Sky content for free

Streaming premium content for free has become massively popular in recent years. With the cost of living crisis still hurting wallets, more and more homes have switched over to illegal platforms, which often offer full access to sports and movies without paying the usual monthly fees.

The idea of paying less or nothing for things such as Premier League and F1 action is clearly enticing but with so many people ditching official channels, the change hasn't gone unnoticed by the authorities and content providers.

Now, in a bid to stop homes tuning in without paying, a huge crackdown has just taken place with a major streaming platform being shut down for good.

In collaboration with Egyptian authorities, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world ’s leading antipiracy coalition, says it has now shutdown of a notorious piracy network.

Streameast has been offering access to events such as the Premier League for a while, and it is thought to have logged more than 1.6 billion visits in the past year alone.

Along with premier football, F1, MMA and Moto GP access, Streameast also provided users with the optionn to see sport-specific piracy sites for American sports including the National Football League ( NFL ) the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB).

“Today, ACE scored a resounding victory in its fight to detect, deter, and dismantle criminal perpetrators of digital piracy: by taking down the largest illegal live sports platform anywhere,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman of ACE and Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). “With this landmark action, we have put more points on the board for sports leagues, entertainment companies, and fans worldwide—and our global alliance will stay on the field as long as it takes to identify and target the biggest piracy rings across the globe.”

Site traffic to the various domains originated primarily from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Philippines and Germany. Homes that were using this platform will now find they are blocked from content.

“We congratulate ACE on this landmark enforcement action. Piracy is not a victimless crime – it undermines the entire sports economy, from rights holders and leagues to athletes and fans," said Cameron Andrews, Legal Director, Anti-Piracy for beIN MEDIA GROUP.

"The success of this operation proves that with strong international cooperation and robust enforcement, no illegal network is beyond reach. beIN MEDIA GROUP is proud to stand with ACE in continuing to pursue and dismantle criminal piracy operations wherever they exist,”