StreamEast Bounces Back After Domain Seizure, Launches 20 Mirror Sites

In August 2024, millions of fans worldwide were in panic mode when reports started circulating that StreamEast had been seized.

Instead of fading quietly into the night, the platform bounced back right up by launching new mirror sites. 

So, why was StreamEast seized and how did it recover so fast? And why is the streaming service so popular? Let’s find out!

Domains seized after a court warrant

StreamEast’s domains were seized by United States federal law enforcement agencies in August 2024. Six domains were seized: Thestreameast.to, Streameast.io, Streameast.live, Thestreameast.xyz, Streameast.xyz, and Thestreameast.io.

If you visit any of these domains, for example, thestreameast.to, you will encounter a domain seizure banner. The banner lists the Homeland Security Investigations, Department of Justice, and National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre as the agencies involved.

A part of the domain seizure banner reads:

“This domain name has been seized by Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) pursuant to a warrant issued by the United States District Court for Eastern District of Louisiana under the authority of, inter alia, Title 18, United States Code, Section 2323.”

The seizure reportedly happened after a U.S. court issued a warrant that was presented to Tonic.to, a national domain name registry, directing them to seize the affected domains.

StreamEast obtained a copy of the warrant authorizing the seizure, published on the Torrent Freak.  

The warrant claims that an application was made by a federal law enforcement officer or a government attorney requesting the seizure of the domains.

Subsequently, the court found grounds to authorize the domain seizure, but no other information was supplied. 

StreamEast is very popular amongst many sports fans

Given the platform’s popularity, it is unsurprising that StreamEast has been targeted by U.S. law enforcement agencies. According to data from Semrush, one of StreamEast’s active domains (streameast.to) had 8.25 million visitors in August 2024.

One of StreamEast’s major selling points is that it offers free access to several sports, including Formula One, the NBA, NFL, NHL, MMA, and Boxing, as well as international soccer competitions like La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Bundesliga, and the Saudi Pro League.

Many fans cannot access these competitions due to high subscription fees or licensing agreements.

Therefore, StreamEast fills a huge niche for millions of sports fans unwilling (or unable) to pay high fees for live sports or who can’t access them in certain geographical regions.

StreamEast is popular even among celebrities

Ordinarily, you would expect regular sports fans looking to save money on expensive live sports packages to use sites like StreamEast. However, it appears that the site might be popular even amongst celebrities.

In May 2024, a clip appeared on X showing NBA legend Lebron James at a basketball tournament, looking over the computer screen of an unnamed person seated next to him, who was streaming a match from StreamEast.

The clip immediately went viral, increasing the popularity of the sports streaming platform. However, some fans were also concerned that the increased publicity could lead to the platform’s shutdown, and it seems their fears were founded.

Several new domains launched after the seizure

As it seems, the seizure of StreamEast domains is doing very little to curtail the sports streaming platform.

Immediately after news of the seizure broke out, the platform posted on X, reassuring its users that its “prioritized domains” were still up and running.

In another defiant post on X, Stream East claimed its service will never go offline.

“Our streams will never go offline. We have more decoy streams than you could imagine. We have self-replicating private servers in storage. We have more domains than Apple and Google combined. Follow along on our journey to live sports heaven.”

True to their word, StreamEast immediately launched 20 more mirror domains, which are still up and running as of now.

These domains include:

StreamEast plans to appeal the seizure of its domains

But even with the new domains up and running, StreamEast plans to go one step further – appealing the seizure. Such an appeal is rare, given that most pirate sites would count their losses and move on to new domains.

However, while speaking to Torrent Freak, one of StreamEast’s admins claimed the seizure was illegal, hence the appeal.

“[The warrant] did not provide any reasons for the shutdown, which is quite intriguing. As a result, we have doubts about the legitimacy of this decision, and we will be filing an appeal in the coming days.”

It is unlikely that StreamEast will win the legal battle, given that they are distributing copyrighted content, which is a crime under U.S. copyright laws.

However, domain seizure appeals are not without precedent. In 2012, a court ordered U.S. authorities to return domains of Rojadirecta, a Spanish live sports streaming service, after a seizure for alleged copyright infringement.

In another 2011 case, U.S. authorities returned the domains of a music review blog, DaJaz1. In this instance, the authorities seized the domains using dubious evidence.

Whether StreamEast will win the appeal if they challenge the seizure remains to be seen. However, in the meantime, the platform is still up and running through its mirror domains, enjoyed by millions of sports fans worldwide.