2 min learnNew DelhiJun 28, 2026 10:09 AM IST
The US has seized almost 400 web domains that had been getting used to illegally stream the World Cup, officers mentioned on Friday, describing the transfer as one meant to disrupt worldwide networks benefiting from the recognition of the event.
The U.S. Justice Division mentioned the domains had been recognized with the help of soccer governing physique FIFA and others, together with NBC Common and Warner Brothers.
The domains had been used to illegally supply customers copyright-protected content material within the type of real-time streams of the World Cup matches as they had been being performed and first broadcast, the division mentioned.
“These streamers not solely violate copyright legal guidelines but in addition expose viewers to potential threats — together with malware assaults and unsecure connections that may compromise private and monetary knowledge,” Eric Weindorf, a particular agent in cost at Homeland Safety Investigations, mentioned in an announcement.
Servers and domains linked to the unauthorized streaming of the event’s matches had been focused in Peru and Bulgaria, the DOJ mentioned, including that further disruptions passed off in Croatia, Romania, Poland and Colombia.
The World Cup kicked off on June 11 within the United States, Canada and Mexico. Video games are scheduled to be performed in 16 cities throughout the three nations via July 19.
Attendance for the matches have set an all-time document, in keeping with FIFA. Final week’s matches had been some of essentially the most watched tv applications, in keeping with Nielsen. The US’ win over Australia topped that listing.