Overview
- The Justice Department announced a coordinated action that seized almost 400 web domains used to stream live 2026 FIFA World Cup matches without authorization, with the department making the move public on Friday, June 26.
- Operation Offsides was led by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and Homeland Security Investigations and used a warrant filed in the Eastern District of Virginia to post law enforcement seizure banners on the sites.
- Investigators worked with international partners through the ICHIP network to target servers and infrastructure traced to Peru and Bulgaria and carried out supporting disruptions in Croatia, Romania, Poland, and Colombia.
- FIFA and major rights holders and media companies, including beIN Media Group, NBCUniversal, ACE, the UFC, and Warner Bros., supplied leads that helped identify the offending domains.
- Officials warned illicit streams often deliver malware, scams, and insecure connections, and said domain seizures are only a temporary disruption because pirate networks quickly move domains so prosecutors will now focus on locating and prosecuting operators.