If We Don't Kick People Off The Internet For File Sharing, Football Will Die

from the evidence-please? dept

We've discussed in the past how the UK's Premier League's fear of the internet has been a case study in what not to do online. But it seems that the Premier League bosses still want to push forward with plans to make it more difficult and more annoying for fans to actually watch matches. Jeff T alerts us to an opinion piece in The Guardian from the CEO of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, in support of Lord Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill for kicking accused (not convicted) file sharers off the internet. It's the usual rant against "piracy" without much basis or knowledge:

Without the safe passage of the bill -- requiring ISPs to take firm measures against unauthorised filesharers who are currently streaming and downloading with virtual impunity -- the marker that this is theft isn't even set down, educating consumers cannot begin in earnest, businesses cannot begin to develop new models because the market won't be functioning properly and, most importantly of all, the current levels of investment that create jobs as well as talent will be lost. And that is when the real cost of digital theft would become apparent.

And yet, even as he writes those words, the creative industries that he insists are dying have been growing. How? Because the business models have been adapting just fine -- even without additional artificial barriers to competition or the ability to kick people off the internet. And, in the case of the Premier League, Scudamore seems to be leaving out an awful lot of important facts, such as how incredibly limited an online offering the Premier League has put forth, which is a large part of the reason why lots of people stream it illegally. He also tosses out some totally made up "facts" such as "the UK leads the world in illegal downloads of TV programmes, with up to 25% of all online TV piracy taking place here." Well, perhaps it's not totally made up since he uses the magic words "up to." But if there is a problem with file sharing of TV shows in the UK, it's likely (as Jeff noted in his submission) because the "creative industries" that Scudamore insists are so important still delay the release of popular shows in the UK and demand that online streaming sites like Hulu not work outside the US.

Piracy is not the problem. Piracy is only showing folks like Scudamore that they're doing a terrible job in meeting demand. He doesn't need people kicked off the internet to adjust his business model. Lots of others are already doing so.

Filed Under: copyright, file sharing, football, richard scudamore, soccer, uk
Companies: premier league

Is Major League Soccer Sending False DMCA Takedown Notices?

from the maybe-so dept

Dave writes in with an interesting story suggesting that Major League Soccer is potentially violating the DMCA by issuing a takedown of footage for which it does not own the copyright. The details are a little confusing, and some parts aren't entirely clear -- but from the account at the link, two Major League Soccer teams participated in a separate tournament, called the U.S. Open Cup. The event was not televised at all, despite efforts among fans to provide a streaming webcast. Apparently, at the soccer match, a fight broke out, and the local news covered it, using footage from the game. Following this, some bloggers posted the news stations' story about the fight on YouTube -- at which point MLS sent a DMCA takedown notice. The question is whether or not MLS has copyright over the footage (MLS's trademarks are meaningless here, as the DMCA only refers to copyright).

What is not clear is who took the footage. Considering that the game was not televised and the event itself was not an MLS event, it's difficult to believe that it's MLS's footage, and thus, MLS wouldn't hold the copyright over it. However, even if it is MLS coverage, the fact that it was a newsworthy event, and the footage was used in a news report, it would suggest that this particular snippet was actually fair use as used in commenting on it for news purposes. And, if anything, the copyright on the overall clip of the newscast belonged not to MLS, but to the news company. Overall, it seems quite likely that this attempt to censor the clip from YouTube was illegal, as MLS is probably asserting copyright over content for which it does not hold the copyright. But, these days, that's just all in a day's work of misusing the DMCA.

Filed Under: copyright, dmca, soccer, takedowns
Companies: major league soccer, mls

England Football Player Blames Video Games For Team Failure

from the what,-no-other-countries-have-playstations? dept

We see all sorts of problems being blamed on technology, but here's a new one. An English football/soccer player is now blaming video games for England's inability to reach the finals of the Euro 2008 football championships. It's not entirely clear what is so objectionable about the video game consoles, as his comments aren't exactly clear in terms of reasoning: "We would have the best team if we could go into every household and throw away every PlayStation, Xbox and video game." Apparently, other countries are better because people have nothing better to do: "Other countries seem to bring on world-class players, countries like Argentina and Brazil where often it's football or nothing. In contrast we live in a country where we have choices and perhaps the will to do it, the need to escape your own situation, is not so clear." If I'm parsing that correctly, it sounds like he's actually saying it's pretty much all progress that's to blame. If the country were in squalor and the only way to survive was to play the sport, then the national team would be better. He may be right... but, of course, it means that (beyond happy fans), you'd have a pretty miserable country.

Filed Under: blame, robert green, soccer, sports, uk, video games