Media Monster

U.S. Department Of Justice Goes On Sports Streaming Site Purge Just In Time For The Super Bowl (Again)

Do you, U.S. resident, like to watch unauthorized live streams of sporting events online that you can’t catch on TV/ESPN3 for whatever reason? Well, first of all: shame, shame, you lawless fiend. Second: doing so just got ever so slightly more difficult, as the U.S. Department of Justice recently took over several domain names of such sports streaming sites. So if you go to, say, firstrowsports.com now, you see this.

Now, if you’re thinking, “This might put a dent in my Super Bowl viewing plans”…well, that’s the point, most likely. The DOJ did the same thing with streaming sites this time last year – just a few days, of course, before the big game. But this year, they’ve taken it up a level: unlike last year, the DOJ seized .tv domains, too (like firstrowsports.tv – First Row Sports is a rather big player in the pirated sports streaming game, if you couldn’t tell).

Of course, in the long run, such seizures aren’t likely to make much of a difference. For instance, as it was pointed out here, First Row Sports adapted rather quickly in the wake of the seizures. More streaming sites are always likely to pop up, as long as there’s an internet. And even if they didn’t, it wouldn’t have many Super Bowl implications: you can stream that legally this year.

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