With millions of visits per month, pirate sports streaming site Streameast is a favorite among many sports fans.

The site is especially popular in the United States, where even the biggest sports icons, including LeBron James, reportedly use it to stream content.

The appeal of free sports content is understandable, since legitimate options can cost hundreds of dollars per month. This can lead to legal complications, as was made clear earlier this month when Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized several Streameast domains.

“It is unlawful to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material, including sporting events, television shows, movies, music, software, or games, without permission. Individuals who do so may be subject to criminal prosecution under Title 18,” the banner reads.

The seizure order effectively targeted five domain names, including Streameast’s main home; thestreameast.to. There was no mention of any related charges and there have been no further comments from law enforcement that we are aware of. That remains the case today.

Streameast plans to appeal

What is clear is that these initial domain seizures did not disable Streameast. On the contrary, the site’s administrators immediately assured visitors that they would continue and are now considering appealing the domain seizure order.

Streameast administrator ‘quick’ explains that after extensive efforts, the site finally managed to obtain a copy of the seizure order, which raised more questions than it answered.

The order shown above was sent to the Tonic (.to) registry. Streameast eventually received a copy, but it contained no other documents. The full file may contain more information detailing the allegations, but Streameast has not seen it.

Based on the documentation provided, Streameast plans to appeal to the court.

“(The warrant) did not provide any reasons for the closure, which is rather intriguing. As a result, we have doubts about the legitimacy of this decision, and we will be filing an appeal in the coming days,” ‘quick’ tells TorrentFreak.

No prior warning

Streameast was not informed of the legal action in advance. This is not unusual, as domain seizures are meant to be a surprise, so the operators of these sites cannot take precautions.

The popular sports streaming site further tells TorrentFreak that it has never received any direct legal threats from copyright holders; only DMCA notices, which is standard practice for such sites.

“We have never received any legal threats in the past. However, we do receive DMCA requests all the time, which has caused us to switch hosting providers multiple times. This is normal given the nature of the business.

“But before the requests to shut down the service, we did not receive any official request,” said Streameast’s ‘Quick’.

While it may seem unusual for a “pirate” site to challenge the U.S. government on this issue, Streameast isn’t the first sports streaming site to appeal a domain seizure. Rojadirecta did the same thing twelve years ago, and U.S. authorities eventually returned the seized domains.

However, times have changed, and US law enforcement may have improved its procedures to prevent the same thing from happening again. Additionally, the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA) effectively criminalized unauthorized streaming services when it went into effect in late 2020.

New mirror domains

Despite the threat of criminal charges, Streameast remains committed to keeping the site online. Following the domain seizures, it has established several new mirrors, which are shared via the official Streameast Mirror List.

The sports streaming portal previously said that once access to sports streaming is affordable for everyone, it will close. While the site doesn’t have a specific amount in mind, it believes current prices are too high.

“While we can somewhat understand that in today’s world there is a need to pay, it is clear that the current prices are unrealistic. If a sports fan wants to watch all sporting events, including UFC and boxing PPVs, the monthly cost is almost $1500,” according to Streameast’s ‘quick’.

Streameast’s motivation to keep the site online stems from loyalty to its audience, the operator says. While it clearly makes money from advertising, the site cares about its users and insists it’s not “in it for the money.”

Pirate streaming gangs

Sports broadcasting rights holders are likely to paint a different picture, accusing Streameast of being a criminal organisation that generates revenue on the backs of companies that invest in live sports.

Interestingly, Streameast does not deny that there are criminal gangs active in the pirate sports streaming business, but they do not see themselves that way. Instead, the site points the finger at competitors and copycat sites, some of which abuse the Streameast brand.

Many of these “fake” Streameast domains are still operational today, as they were not part of the seizure order.

“It is astonishing that while the real Streameast domain names are being seized, the sites created by gangs setting up fake Streameast sites are still operational. These gangs copy every major streaming site and use spam tactics to rank high on Google, and they have no ethical values.”

According to the operator of Streameast, many sports streaming sites lost their innocence years ago. Some have fallen back on dangerous malware-related ads, while “Asian spam gangs” are launching copycats left and right, trying to outrank official sites in Google search results.

“Quick” concludes: “I wish the US would choose to deal with these gangs instead of targeting us.”