MLB Still Claiming Sling Breaks The Law In Letting People Watch Content They Paid For

from the put-up-or-shut-up dept

Wed, May 30th 2007 3:09pm — Mike Masnick

A year ago, Major League Baseball, an organization that seems to actively try to turn off potential fans by illegally trying to claim ownership of factual information, started making noises that SlingMedia's Slingbox was somehow illegal for letting people who had legally paid to watch baseball games on their home TV system watch that same content outside their home. Apparently, no one has explained to MLB how ridiculous this is because they're publicly saying that Slingboxes are illegal again. It's really a money grab, with MLB trying to get Sling to pay them off to not sue -- and subtly threatening the company by saying that "there's no guarantee that Slingbox will be around next year." This seems like a blatant threat with no actual legal basis -- though it may force Sling to waste time and money defending itself while scaring some other less well funded companies from even entering this space. And, the most ridiculous part is that Slingbox is a great tool for baseball fans helping them to get more enjoyment and more value of the game. Yet, MLB is upset because how dare anyone give fans more value without first paying MLB their share.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

15 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

sehlat, 30 May 2007 @ 3:27pm

That's a nice company you've got.
Be a shame if anything happened to it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Starky, 30 May 2007 @ 3:37pm

Extortion
Is it just me, or is extortion becoming a standard business model lately?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
steve, 30 May 2007 @ 4:01pm

screw them
i used to watch / listen to baseball games
after the baseball strike i stopped and never looked back
this is another reason not to even pay attention to them
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
jon, 30 May 2007 @ 4:33pm

They are obviously doing this because their services MLB.tv MLB.tv Premium are, in many respects, competing with it. The whole idea is that you can watch out of area games, ideal for the person on the road who still wants to catch her home team's big game.

Their just trying to bully out the competition instead of competing. An understandable position considering how crappy their service can be.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- enigmvab, 30 May 2007 @ 8:42pm
  
  Re:
  the service will only allow you to recieve what you would have recieved on the system you pay for or recieve on regular tv. you can'tget something that is broadcast in wisconsin from a newyork affiliate unless you are in wisconsin. that is the big thing. you can only watch what you have recorded or paid for.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mike, 30 May 2007 @ 5:14pm

MLB can Eat Me!
After the strike I too refused to watch games and support the league, but have been warming up to the idea of caring once again. Cancel that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Poster (profile), 30 May 2007 @ 5:29pm

Oh, major sports leagues -- when will you learn that your viewers/fans are what you DON'T need to alienate and drive off?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
dave, 30 May 2007 @ 5:53pm

Sling
Can TV content captured by Sling be simultaneously broad casted on the web via a user's personal web site? If so, I see some problems looming on the horizon.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kyros, 30 May 2007 @ 5:57pm

Dave, I see your point, but I can run from my TV, directly to my PC, and then to my website. I already have that capability, and I don't need sling. Users have had that ability since the internet and Tv-Tuner cards existed. :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 31 May 2007 @ 9:17am

baseball sux
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
JustMatt, 31 May 2007 @ 9:46am

How many people
Are really using Sling to watch games?? Seriously, a few dozen tops?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cowboy Cal, 31 May 2007 @ 4:46pm

Nobody Gets It
Everyone is missing the point here and that is that MLB and the sponsors etc. actually benefit from Sling distribution because you give people who have already paid for the right to view the content more time to be influenced through the advertising that is both located within the stadiums, but it also broadens the viewership for on air advertising!!! MLB wake up, this is helping you - the idea here would be to get the demographic data from Sling so you could increase ad rates and further promote the stuff that is going on.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- crizchun, 1 Jun 2007 @ 11:20am
  
  Re: Nobody Gets It
  You're absolutely right Cal.
  Besides, I watch SNY (Home of the Mets) from my Slingbox nearly everyday, and it's MY cable box. I see no reason for MLB to be thinking of this. Greed.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Coaster, 1 Jun 2007 @ 7:01pm

brains vs brawn?
Maybe it's the steroids speaking...watching a program you have paid for is not illegal.

And too, doesn't MLB make ENOUGH money yet?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
jaky, 1 Dec 2008 @ 4:55am

actually benefit from Sling distribution because you give people who have already paid for the right to view the content more time to be influenced through the advertising that is both located within the stadiums, but it also broadens the viewership for on air advertising!!! MLB wake up, this is helping you - the idea battery and adapter here would be to get the demographic data from Sling so you could increase ad rates and further promote the stuff that is going on.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]