Vietnam-based Markkystreams[dot]com and 137 Associated Domains Comprise Largest Live Sports Piracy Operation Takedown to Date  

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s leading anti-piracy coalition, announced the shutdown of a notorious live sports piracy ring based in Vietnam and viewed extensively throughout the world.

Combined, the operation’s illicit sites logged 812M visits over the past 12 months, making it one of the largest sports piracy rings in the world, and the largest sports piracy ring taken down by ACE to date. The shuttered sites include notorious sports piracy targets such as bestsolaris[dot]com, streameast[dot]to; markkystreams[dot]com; crackstreams[dot]dev; and weakspell[dot]to.

Through an intensive, global investigation, ACE identified and approached the sites’ Hanoi-based operators, who agreed to immediately transfer 138 domains to ACE.

“The shutdown of this globally notorious live sports piracy ring is a huge victory in our campaign against the piracy of live sports programs and follows other recent successful actions by ACE and law enforcement in Vietnam,” said Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer for the Motion Picture Association (MPA). “ACE’s live sports members face a unique threat when it comes to digital piracy, as live sports broadcasts lose substantial commercial value once the game ends. The takedown serves as a warning to piracy operators everywhere – including operators in live sports piracy – that ACE will identify and shut down their illegal operations.”

Primarily targeting audiences in the U.S. and Canada, the sites streamed sports events daily, including content from all the U.S. sports leagues and global leagues of every category. The illicit operation affected all ACE members, including ACE’s sports tier members beIN Sports, Canal+ and DAZN.

“DAZN stands with ACE in the fight to eradicate piracy, which undermines the sports ecosystem at all levels,” said Ed McCarthy, Chief Operating Officer of DAZN. “It is very pleasing that a criminal operation of this scale was taken down. Piracy often compromises the security of fans’ data, which is then used for illegal purposes, so the closure of this piracy ring has the added benefit that potential subscribers will be guided toward legitimate content providers like DAZN.”

All sites will be redirecting to the ACE “Watch Legally” page.

About The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is the world’s leading coalition dedicated to protecting the legal creative market and reducing digital piracy. Driven by a comprehensive approach to addressing piracy through criminal referrals, civil litigation, and cease-and-desist operations, ACE has achieved many successful global enforcement actions against illegal streaming services and unauthorized content sources and their operators. Drawing upon the collective expertise and resources of more than 50 media and entertainment companies around the world—including sports channels and associations—and reinforced by the Motion Picture Association’s content protection operations, ACE protects the creativity and innovation that drives the global growth of core copyright and entertainment industries. The current governing board members for ACE are Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE. For more information, visit www.alliance4creativity.com.

About DAZN

DAZN is the world’s leading sports entertainment platform. It broadcasts over 90,000 live events annually and is available in more than 200 markets worldwide. DAZN is the home of European football, women’s football, boxing and MMA, and the NFL internationally. The platform features the biggest sports and leagues from around the world – Bundesliga, Serie A, LALIGA, Ligue 1, Formula 1, NBA, Moto GP, and many more, including the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.  DAZN is transforming the way people enjoy sport. With a single, frictionless platform, sports fans can watch, play, buy, and connect. Live and on-demand sports content, anywhere, in any language, on any device – only on DAZN. For more information on DAZN, our products, people, and performance, visit www.dazngroup.com. 

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SOURCE Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE)

HONG KONG, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — HKBN Ltd. (“HKBN” or the “Company”; SEHK stock code: 1310) has announced the retirement of Mr. Bradley Jay Horwitz, the former Chairman of the Board, effective from 12 December 2024.  Mr. Horwitz, after nine years of exemplary leadership that has transformed HKBN into an ICT Powerhouse post-IPO, leaves behind a remarkable legacy.  Following Mr. Horwitz’s retirement, Ms. Cordelia Chung, an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Board.  She also serves as the Chairman of the Nomination Committee and the Remuneration Committee, as well as a member of the Audit Committee of the Company. Ms. Chung’s extensive knowledge, strategic insights, and leadership capabilities make her the ideal leader to steer HKBN through its next phase of growth and innovation.

Mr. William Yeung, HKBN Co-Owner & Executive Vice-chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “Under Mr. Horwitz’s stewardship, HKBN achieved numerous significant milestones since taking the helm immediately following our IPO.  Mr. Horwitz oversaw our transformative vision to grow into an ICT Powerhouse through industry-shaking M&As.  His vision and dedication have been instrumental in shaping our Company’s success in both the residential and enterprise markets. On behalf of the entire HKBN family, we extend our deepest gratitude to Mr. Horwitz for the crucial role he played in advancing HKBN.  We also warmly welcome Ms. Chung as our new Board Chairman. With her extensive experience in multinational leadership, specialising in information technology, Ms. Chung’s vision and depth of experience will lead HKBN to another milestone in its journey towards a sustainable, successful and innovative future.”

Ms. Cordelia Chung, HKBN Board Chairman and Independent Non-executive Director, said: “It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed as the Chairman of the Board of HKBN.  I will continue to work closely with the Board and the management team to uphold our commitment to excellence.  I am thrilled to lead the Company’s growth as HKBN continues to shape the future of connectivity and digital technology in Hong Kong and beyond.”

Ms. Chung is a corporate leader with extensive multinational and industry experience, specialising in information technology. Ms. Chung currently serves as independent non-executive director on a number of boards of different companies, including Arup Group Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited, Hysan Development Company Limited, and HKSTP Foundation Limited.  Ms. Chung is a recipient of the Medal of Honour, awarded in 2024 by the HKSAR Government for her contributions in promoting innovation and technology and active participation in public service, as well as the Directors of the Year Award in 2022 by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.  Ms. Chung spent over 20 years with IBM, a leader in information technology, and was the first Asian female executive to sit on the IBM Chairman & CEO’s Strategy Team, setting strategic directions for IBM globally across 175 countries.  By leveraging Ms. Chung’s profound experience, HKBN is poised to elevate its position as a pioneer in the ICT industry.

For more details, please refer to the announcement:
https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2024/1127/2024112701157.pdf

About HKBN Ltd.
HKBN Ltd. (SEHK Stock Code: 1310, together with its subsidiaries, “HKBN” or the “Group”) is an investment holding company.  Headquartered in Hong Kong with operations spanning across Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, the Group is a leading integrated telecommunications and technology services provider. The Group provides a full range of one-stop, high-quality information and communication technology (ICT) solutions and an unlimited services portfolio. HKBN’s extensive tri-carrier fibre infrastructure covers around 2.6 million residential homes and 8,200 commercial buildings and facilities across Hong Kong. Committed to creating a lasting positive impact to wherever it operates, HKBN embraces a core purpose to “Make our Home a Better Place to Live” and has received a highest possible rating of AAA in MSCI’s 2024 ESG Ratings assessment in environment, society and governance. The Group is managed by hundreds of Co-Owners (supervisory and management level Talents in the Group) who invested their savings to buy shares of HKBN. For more information about HKBN, please visit https://www.hkbn.net/group/en.

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SOURCE HKBN Ltd.

HYDERABAD, India, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ —  KFin Technologies Ltd. (KFintech) (BSE: 543720); (NSE: KFINTECH) a leader in technology and fund administration solutions for asset management – has joined BlackRock’s Aladdin Provider network to enhance its operating model with asset managers, making it more standardised and efficient. The collaboration will see KFintech join a growing community of the world’s largest asset servicers – enabling it to offer differentiated fund administration and accounting services to clients.

The asset management industry can often be constrained by legacy systems, manual processes, inconsistent data standards and limited integration across workflows, all of which can lead to sizeable inefficiencies and risks for companies.

By leveraging the Aladdin® platform’s propriety data interfaces and workflows, KFintech will be able to better integrate the flow of data with asset managers. This will also enable KFintech to digitize manual processes, align reference data and research fund activity in real-time, and conduct middle office operations on behalf of clients.

Sreekanth Nadella, Managing Director and CEO of KFin Technologies said, “It is a matter of pride for KFintech to join BlackRock’s Aladdin Provider network. We are excited to leverage Aladdin’s sophisticated data connectivity capabilities to enhance the service we provide to clients, allowing them to benefit from a more streamlined operating model, increased automation, and a reduction in the risk of errors.

The collaboration aligns with our vision to deliver transformative and data-driven solutions to the asset managers by expanding our capabilities globally. KFintech – with its expertise spanning over four decades in asset servicing solutions and digital and big data solutions – will be further propelled by Aladdin’s data connectivity capabilities to provide a compelling value proposition to the asset managers.”

Tarek Chouman, Global Head of Aladdin Client Business, BlackRock, said, “We are delighted to welcome KFintech to the Aladdin Provider network and enable our shared clients to connect data seamlessly through a single platform and bring clarity and efficiency to the entire investment workflow.”

About KFin Technologies Limited (www.kfintech.com/; BSE: 543720; NSE: KFINTECH):

KFin Technologies Limited (“KFintech”) is a leading technology driven financial services platform providing comprehensive services and solutions to the capital markets ecosystem including asset managers and corporate issuers across asset classes in India and provide comprehensive investor solutions including transfer agency, fund administration, fund accounting, data analytics, digital onboarding, mobility solutions, transaction origination and processing for alternate investments, mutual funds, unit trusts, insurance investments, and private retirement schemes to 60+ global asset managers in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Middle East, and Canada. In India, KFintech is the largest investor solutions provider to Indian mutual funds servicing 24 asset management companies (AMCs) out of the 43 AMCs in India, as on September 30, 2024, and the largest issuer solutions provider in India servicing 6,677 corporates, as on September 30, 2024. In mutual funds, over the last five years, the Company has been continuously gaining market share in the overall AAUM serviced, which has improved from 27% in fiscal year 2021 to ~32% for the period ended September 30, 2024. KFintech is also the largest transfer agent and fund administrator to alternative investment funds (AIFs) in India servicing 526 AIFs out of 1,402 AIFs registered with SEBI, as on September 30, 2024. In addition, the Company also offers technology platform-based solutions to portfolio and wealth managers and is the second largest central record keeping agencies for the National Pension System in India, servicing 1.4 million pension subscribers, capturing 8.9% market share in the overall subscriber base, as on September 30, 2024. General Atlantic Singapore Fund Pte Ltd ( ” GASF” ), a leading global private equity investor, is the promoter of the company.

About BlackRock Aladdin®

Aladdin® is a tech platform that unifies the investment management process by providing a common data language within an organization to enable scale, provide insights, and support business transformation.

As a strategic partner to institutional investors including asset managers, pension funds, insurers, and corporate treasurers, Aladdin® combines sophisticated risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio management, trading, operations, and accounting tools on a single, unified platform. BlackRock’s Aladdin® platform is a financial technology platform designed for institutional use only and is not intended for end investor use.

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