A major sports piracy ring was shut down just nine days in advance of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022tm which started on Nov. 20. Before the Nov. 11 shutdown, livekoora.online and yalla-shoot-new.tv, had carried live soccer matches free of charge, drawing 20.6 million visits during October 2022 alone.
The piracy operation had drawn content mainly from beIN SPORTS, the international sports broadcaster which joined ACE in April and supported this successful action in Morocco.
A beIN Spokesperson said, “With just days to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM, we are delighted with the most recent shutdown of illegal broadcast websites in Morocco. We are grateful to our partners at ACE for facilitating this important anti-piracy activity, which safeguards our consumers in Morocco, ensuring they are not subject to harmful illegal streaming.”
Read the ACE press release: Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment shuts down major sports piracy ring in Morocco, Nov 18 2022
Why it matters
FIFA is anticipating an audience of 5 billion viewers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022tm
“The successful ACE action in Morocco is a direct result of our enhanced focus on the growing threat that live sports piracy poses to consumers, sports leagues and their fans,” said Jan van Voorn, Executive Vice President and Global Content Protection Chief for the Motion Picture Association and Head of ACE. “Working with our member, beIN SPORTS, we have sent a clear message to piracy operators around the world, including anyone planning to steal content from the upcoming World Cup games, that we will find you and shut you down.”
ACE has dramatically enhanced its focus this year on the growing threat large-scale piracy operations pose to live sports broadcasters. ACE’s approach includes criminal referrals, litigation, and direct communications among other tactics, positioning ACE and its partners to move swiftly into reducing piracy of live sports broadcasts globally.
