Fox Accuses Cablevision Of Telling People To Go To 'Illegal' Sites To Watch Games Fox Is Blocking

from the uh,-well,-since-you're-blocking-them... dept

Wed, Oct 27th 2010 8:46am — Mike Masnick

I'm not quite sure I understand Fox's supposed (and very manufactured) "outrage" at the news that Cablevision employees are telling upset callers to go online to find streams of sporting events that they can't watch on Fox due to the fee dispute between Cablevision and Fox. After all, Fox is the one blocking Cablevision subscribers from seeing the content, so it really shouldn't be surprised to find out that Cablevision is helping people find the content. Also, while the particular streams may be unauthorized, it's a bit silly to call the sites themselves "illegal" as Fox's announcement states. Similarly, it's kind of silly that the Daily News, who is reporting on this, isn't naming the sites in question.

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Filed Under: fox, retransmission rights, sporting events, streams
Companies: cablevision, news corp.

53 Comments

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Marcel de Jong (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 8:08am

Is Fox fucking kidding me?
So, you block a whole bunch of people from your feeds and then you get angry when people try to find alternative ways of watching the games? What did they expect, that people would just roll over?
Oh wait no, they had expected that the outrage would be focused on Cablevision, who'd then be pestered into paying the higher fee. Bunch of greedy asshats.

Kudos to Cablevision for thinking pro-customer.
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- Jay (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:05am
  
  Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
  I gotta admit, it's odd thinking Cablevision as pro-customer. I just believe they may be tired of the high fees themselves.
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  - interval, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:37am
    
    Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
    No kidding. Its as if the 7th seal has been broken and all the world's toils have spilled out to commence Armageddon.
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  - Any Mouse, 28 Oct 2010 @ 12:36pm
    
    Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
    We've had Cablevision for years. Digital phone, internet, and television. They are definitely pro-customer at the local market level, here, but with most Cablevision providers you are not dealing with a corporate office somewhere in Texas, Canada or even, gods forbid, India. They're right there in your town, so if you're getting bad service it's your own neighbors to blame.
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- R. Miles (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:55am
  
  Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
  "Kudos to Cablevision for thinking pro-customer"
  That is, until Cablevision bills them once they "negotiate" the deal to restore Fox broadcasting.
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- Martial Law, 27 Oct 2010 @ 11:22am
  
  Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
  Marcel, please go lease 1200 acres of prime hunting land for $20K/year and then let me hunt on it for free. You can demand that others pay, but not me since I have a Natural-born, God-given right to hunt on your lease.
  
  You are intellectually challenged, just like everyone else who thinks that they are ENTITLED to copyrighted content. If nobody paid for it, nobody would generate it.
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  - Richard (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:31pm
    
    Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
    If nobody paid for it, nobody would generate it.
    
    Like no one ever plays sport unless it's televised and has huge revenue streams?
    
    The fact is that millions play sport as amateurs - and (before the money men moved in) many of the greatest sportsmen of all time played as amateurs.
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    - Not Surprised, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:11pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
      Just because some one is playing football does not mean you can watch it. by generate he means recorded and transmitted to a destination.
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    - Not Surprised, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:13pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
      Just because some one is playing football does not mean you can watch it. by generate he means recorded and transmitted to a destination.
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  - Marcel de Jong (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:45pm
    
    Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
    If you want that analogy to work, I would have to forbid you access to my land, and then complain to you when you hunt game that came from my land but that you hunted on the property next door.
    
    But I don't think I could claim ownership over the animals on my land.
    So analogy fail. Better luck next time.
    
    If anything Fox has an issue with the illegal providers and not with Cablevision in this case.
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    - anon, 28 Oct 2010 @ 5:55am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
      Fox's issue is Cablevision allowing their people to promote illegal viewing/downloading/streaming and allowing them to make claims that they have a whole team working on getting you the latest in illegal video on the internet. Please. Fox knows we're all looking for alternative means and they know how easy it is to find them, but come *on*. I applaud them for outing CV even if it comes out that they intentionally set them up to look stupid. Fox sucks. Cablevision and Dish Network suck more. At least Fox isn't pretending like they give a shit about me. Dish and CV would have hiked their rates regardless of this, now they just have a convenient excuse. Meanwhile Dish Network is playing the victim so hard that it's almost sad.
      
      Watch your shows illegally while these guys fight it out, just don't accept that CV is looking out for you when they tell you where to find them because they aren't.
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      - Marcel de Jong (profile), 28 Oct 2010 @ 3:55pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
        They could've simply not said anything, and pointed to Fox. Which would be worse customer service.
        Apparently Cablevision has a horrid history of customer service, but this one time, they think pro-customer. And I think it's then a good thing to reward that, in the hopes that it continues.
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- anon, 28 Oct 2010 @ 5:49am
  
  Re: Is Fox fucking kidding me?
  Yeah, good job Cablevision. You just showed me how easy it is to watch television without FOX, but you also showed me how easy it is to watch television without *you*. Good going.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:00am

Unintended consequences
What is funniest is that, by blocking people from seeing the content in the "official" way, Fox is driving people to a "unofficial" way. After these people get over the activation energy of finding wherever these streams are located, installing whichever plugins and codecs are needed to play the content, and creating whichever website accounts to access these sites, there is much less effort in coming back to see a new stream. Perhaps one from a Fox competitor this time.

In the end, some people will find out they no longer need Fox. Or Cablevision, for that matter.
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- JEDIDIAH, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:43am
  
  Fixate on the net, forget the antenna.
  This is an event that will be broadcast over the public airwaves. It's silly to fixate on people that might be downloading this off the internet when most of these people can probably just plug an antenna into their TV.
  
  I will be recording the Series in this manner myself since I get the local Fox affiliate clear enough to record from.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ima Fish (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:02am

"it's kind of silly that the Daily News, who is reporting on this, isn't naming the sites in question."

Justin.tv? Assuming it's illegal to broadcast copyrighted programs on justin.tv, is it illegal to watch them? If so I'll be going to NFL prison soon enough.
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- The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:14am
  
  Re:
  Afraid you'll have to wait on that for a while. Copyright law generally only covers the person or entity making a copy and US courts have ruled that copies in memory or even the filesystem that are used and then discarded for the express purpose of being able to view/listen to the content at all are not copies for the purposes of copyright.
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ofb2632 (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:02am

vague threats
Fox has always done a great job with all these vague threats with no actual proof to back them up.
But they are the supposed 'fair and balanced' network.. yea right.. even calling them a news organization is way over the line. The Nazi's used the same type of propaganda to push their agenda that faux news does.
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- interval, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:38am
  
  Re: vague threats
  "But they are the supposed 'fair and balanced' network.. yea right.. even calling them a news organization is way over the line. The Nazi's used the same type of propaganda to push their agenda that faux news does."
  
  Way to flame bait, winner.
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- The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:15am
  
  Re: vague threats
  Way to Godwin.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- btr1701 (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:18pm
  
  Re: vague threats
  > But they are the supposed 'fair and balanced' network
  
  Fox News and Fox Television are two different companies. You're conflating the two.
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- Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:44pm
  
  Re: vague threats
  http://www.saneornot.com/files/candidate/thumb/large/Not%20Hitler.jpg
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:03am

Fox is funny or Move backwards
So Fox ends up pushing more cable TV users to the Internet and suddenly they realize they don't need cable at all to watch this stuff. Why pay extra for cable TV when you can watch it online?? OOppps!

Fox HQ must be a lot like a Benny Hill sketch right now. The music is playing while the CEO runs around and slaps everyone responsible for not re-negotiating in a timely manner even though it was his idea to make more money to begin with.

When will companies learn that when you bite the hand that feeds you (the real hand, the consumers) then you lose whatever credibility and trust you have built up.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:18am

Yet another moronic move by Fox. One wonders how they are still strong and kicking...
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- Jay (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:23am
  
  Re:
  Rupert Murdoch's millions, which will very soon run out with the paywall fiasco and now this. He must really love what he's doing right now.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Trails (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:39am
    
    Re: Re:
    Um no. While the paywall thing will fail, foxnews is making money hand over fist. This will fund many more idiotic schemes by Rupert and co. They have a very deep well, so to speak.
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- interval, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:40am
  
  Re:
  Because Fox News has higher ratings than any of the other news shows. Don't confuse FN with Fox at large. I agree the network is doing some stupid things with the NFL programming but the News org. is doing a lot of things right.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:39am

can someone list some of these sights
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- Jim L, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:03pm
  
  Re: can someone list some of these sites
  http://www.myp2p.eu/index.php?part=sports
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
C.R.Hatfield (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:55am

good - I plan on stealing all my fox related shows and events (sports, etc..) even if I can watch them freely, I hate fox and anything fox (News Corporation Inc) operated. I hope and pray the government shuts that company down, freedom of the press should not extend to Tabloids, Tele-Tabloids or any company that incites fear and/or hate for one American against another and while I'm on my soapbox, WikiLeaks is another unamerican piece of shit that needs shut down and their people thrown into federal prison for crimes against the state - shit like this weakens our country and our standings in the world and more importantly, they put our serving brothers and sisters in harms way.
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- RD, 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:28am
  
  Re:
  "...and while I'm on my soapbox, WikiLeaks is another unamerican piece of shit that needs shut down and their people thrown into federal prison for crimes against the state.." (more drivel removed)
  
  Um, yeah, lets see....Wikileaks is not in the US. Wikileaks is not under the jurisdiction of the US. Wikileaks is a foreign company, based in a foreign country.
  
  Maybe you better check how high your soapbox is before you speak. Might come across better if you, you know, actually KNOW what you are talking about, and less like a raving lunatic.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- btr1701 (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:22pm
  
  Re: Speech
  > I hope and pray the government shuts that company
  > down, freedom of the press should not extend to
  > Tabloids, Tele-Tabloids or any company that incites
  > fear and/or hate for one American against another
  
  Well, considering the Supreme Court has explicitly ruled that hateful speech is specifically protected by the 1st Amendment (American Nazi Party vs. City of Skokie), and 200+ years of 1st Amendment jurisprudence also protects tabloid-type journalism, you're going to be hoping and praying fruitlessly for quite a long time.
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- Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2010 @ 2:19pm
  
  Re: Are you seriou?
  "freedom of the press should not extend to ... any company that incites fear and/or hate for one American against another"
  
  Sounds good to me, so when are NBC, CBS, CNN, ESPN (those sports fans are easily incited) and all the other MSM networks being shut down? While we are at it we probably need to add Investment Banks, all of Wall Street, most automakers, all political associations and campaigns, lobbying organizations, the FBI, CIA, and DOD to the list as well...
  
  Oh wait, you mean that all the companies YOU DON'T LIKE shouldn't have freedom of the press, okay makes more sense to me now... go back under your bridge TROLL
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- Yeebok (profile), 1 Nov 2010 @ 2:45am
  
  Re:
  Perhaps if those things didn't occur .. then Wikileaks would not be able to provide information on it. I am afraid in that context "the state" is committing the "crimes against the state".
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Jason, 27 Oct 2010 @ 9:59am

Strsnd?
ATTENTION: DO NOT USE GOOGLE TO FIND FREE AND EASY TO USE STREAMING COVERAGE OF FOX SPORTS!!!

Thank you.
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- JEDIDIAH, 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:18am
  
  Re: Strsnd?
  Don't use a $30 TV antenna or a $30 PC tuner card either.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 11:52am
    
    "Hey Mom, what's a TV?"
    "Oh you know, hunny, it's that big honkin' box yer Dad and me used ta watch the internet on, only we could only watch what they wanted us to and only when they wanted us to, and you know, it's really nothing like the internet, but you get the idea."
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Berenerd (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:05am

Mal, he killed me Mal...he killed me with a sword...
"can't stop the signal, Mal, you can never stop...the signal..."

Fox news has the conservative nut jobs supporting them. They make up for what the Fox network screws up.
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- rabbit wise (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:24pm
  
  Re: Mal, he killed me Mal...he killed me with a sword...
  you have just made my day.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:12am

Does anyone know of any sights that will broadcast the world series & nfl games
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- btr1701 (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:24pm
  
  Re:
  > Does anyone know of any sights that will broadcast
  > the world series & nfl games
  
  Nope. And it's "sites" not "sights".
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Jason, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:55pm
    
    OrthoWHAT???
    Cripes, it's th'orthography cops! Time for me contraband scripts to take a swim in th'ol' Huston c-anal!
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TPBer (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:26am

Yeah right..
When are the networks going to get it, every channel is streamed somewhere, anyone with a computer connected or GTV box will be able to view. Some without any ads.

Fuck hulu and the like they will all go down in flames with the networks. Networks, or should I say Ad generators, are not required any longer.
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Bill M., 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:32am

They already lost me...
* Dish Customer.

* LA Kings Fan.

* In danger of missing out on my favorite teams best season ever.

* Now proud user of illegal streaming for sporting events.

* Finding less and less reason to keep paying for TV service.
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- Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:39am
  
  Re: They already lost me...
  what sight are you going to
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  - Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 11:07am
    
    Re: Re: They already lost me...
    Sight - Noun: the power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.
    
    Your sentence makes no sense. Also, google.
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  - Free Capitalist (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 11:07am
    
    Re: Re: They already lost me...
    (Warning weak archaic ref ahead)
    
    (Waves hand)
    These aren't the forums you're looking for....
    
    Honestly, though its not really the place. Also a good number of us are "old paradigm people" who still pay for TV (in many ways) and buy media in many forms (often the same thing twice in different formats.... ..... ..). It will not broadcast live during the playoffs, but the MLB.tv service will let you replay the WS games. Capacity still needs work though... :P I got the service for the regular season because I'm not in my team's market.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Overcast (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 11:57am

Wait now - all other things aside the customers are paying for 'service' that includes 'Fox'. So how is there a legal issue?

I mean, if I go but a movie, but then watch it on the web; it's legal right? Since along with buying the movie I bought the 'rights' to watch the movie from an IP standpoint... right?
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- ron, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:58pm
  
  Re:
  Don't be such a dumb ass! The cable service is not willing to pay Fox for the rights to broadcast. So if the cable company is selling you a product they can not provide, then they are committing fraud. Fox did not sell you anything, they sold the feed to the cable company.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not Surprised, 27 Oct 2010 @ 12:14pm

Not a fan but
God forbid I ever be known as a fan of Fox or especially the FN propaganda machine. If we don't pay to watch, eventually there wont be a feed to watch on pay or sneaky steams. It will be interesting to see how the industry eventually adapts.
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The Digital Hobo, 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:30pm

MLB.TV
While I'm in the uproar camp, I'm not sure why more people aren't getting the MLB.TV streams.

$10 for the entire playoffs isn't the worst deal in the world, and beats the hell out of the quality you'd get from Justin.TV or any other illegal streams.

You don't get all the graphics or replays, but you do get the whole game, legally, from the comfort of your livingroom.
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DerekCurrie (profile), 27 Oct 2010 @ 10:35pm

Frack Fux
Lord-Of-All Rupert Murdoch dictates bloated pricing for his company's precious news and entertainment programming. So what else will abused customers do but find a work around for his greed and stooopidity. It's the age of the Marketing Moron where money rules and screw the irritating customers! The RIAA do it! The MPAA do it! News Corp do it! To hell with all of you and your psychopathy.
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abnermoretz123 (profile), 19 Jan 2014 @ 10:10pm

I agree with their point, it is unfair to them that they try to keep them at bay and the cable companies broadcasts them. Out of control.
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