The US Department of Justice announced that almost 3,000 websites were blocked for illegallyillegally/ɪˈliːɡəli/L2非法地in a way that is against the law streaming World Cup matches. More than 1,000 of these domains were shut down in the US. Colombia blocked a similar number. Authorities called the enforcement actions "operation offsides" and "operation red card". Ivan J. Arvelo, a director at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, said that such piracypiracy/ˈpaɪrəsi/L2盗版行为the act of copying or using something (like movies, music, or software) without permission "violates intellectual property rights and fuels criminal organizations".
Also, the DOJ said the effort shows a strong commitment to protecting the World Cup. FIFA and other media companies supported the crackdown. In Colombia, police arrested four members of a cybercriminal group and took down 830 websites in other countries. As well as illegal streams, police searched for and seized fake sports clothing. Police arrested eleven people for making and selling these counterfeitcounterfeit/ˈkaʊntərfɪt/L2假冒的fake; made to look like something real in order to trick people items.
For example, the World Cup is a very popular globalglobal/ˈɡloʊbəl/L2全球的；全世界的relating to the whole world event. Protecting it from illegal streaming is important for the companies that pay for the rights to show the games. FIFA makes a lot of its money from selling these broadcastingbroadcasting/ˈbrɔːdkæstɪŋ/L2广播；播放the act of sending out programs on television or radio rights. The police operations helped to keep the games safe and fair for everyone.
