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So, how can you beat this system? Or should I ask a couple of Russian hackers for the solution?
Possibly a proxy IP address?
My thoughts exactly. I can't believe they got a patent for a geolocater, and then had the audacity to brag about it.
The "blackout" circles need to be revisited. I have black out restrictions for teams that my cable company will never carry.
I remember when I lived in the Racine/Kenosha area and had a small time cable operators basic cable package that include virtually nothing. I think I could watch most of the Brewers games but there were not to many televised Chicago games. Unfortunately because of my location MLB.tv was totally useless for me. Whereas I got Chicago and Milwaukee channels on my TV so I could watch every single Bears game plus every single Packers game if I so desired.
I get "blacked out" of Blue Jay games that are not on television, on any station, and I live 4,000KM away from Toronto.
I've watched a ton of Japanese baseball on those feeds and lots of BBC news.
Damn - I always look after any primate who visits here!!
(We own a pub)
Seconded.
Remember, they filed the application in 2004, so it is not like they got a patent for something they developed yesterday. Also, the claims cover something a bit more than a geolocator.
But why highlight it on the website trafficked by one of the two parties, particularly for whom the technical achievement serves as only an annoyance? It would be like an airline seatback magazine touting the industry's successful efforts to thwart the passenger's bill of rights. Wrong medium, dudes.
Because if it weren't for that technology, MLB.tv wouldn't exist?
Folks, the choice isn't between blackouts and no blackouts. The choice is between blackouts and nothing.
That may be true, but it's a subtlety lost of consumers for whom the blackout primarily exists as an annoyance, not a feature. It's just stupid P.R. on the part of MLBAM, that's all.
It is not clear to me that is the message that most consumers will take away. I think a lot are going to see:
"It was a game-changer as far as being able to distribute live sports broadcasting in a new way over the Internet," see that the NFL, NBA and NHL don't have it, and conclude that MLB is really smart, great, etc..
Sure, but it's either that or nothing.
Without this technology, there's no way to legally broadcast games over the internet.
The legitimate complaints are with the blackout areas themselves, not with the technology used to enforce the blackouts.
I am obviously missing something because I fail to see your point. Fans within the blackout region still get to see the games - they are on television, and most look to be on the basic cable package. I am not aware of a groundswell from most fans wanting to watch games on the computer rather than television, so I don't see what this issue is, or how fans in the black out region are prevented from getting what they want.
They're not going to care that this technology allows them to get something that didn't exist before?
If I figured out a way to save the newspaper industry, but we had to get rid of the comix section in order to do it, I wouldn't want to hear a bunch of whining from Cathy fans.
I'm not sure you actually understand the biggest complaint about MLB.tv, which is their crazy blackout rules.
I'll also add that not everybody in the world are in a position to stay at home and watch a game on TV, thus the appeal of MLB on the internet.
No, give them an inch. . . .
I'll also add that this technology is basically a crutch that allows MLB to do what they always which is stick their head in the sand and ignore their customer base. There are other options but MLB took the easy route.
If I figured out a way to save the newspaper industry, but we had to get rid of the comix section in order to do it, I wouldn't want to hear a bunch of whining from Cathy fans.
You wouldn't want to hear but it doesn't mean people won't complain and certainly doesn't mean it is a smart PR decision to go up to Cathy fans and boast of your breakthrough.
Problem is, this isn't true. The blackout regions in baseball have nothing to do with what fans can see on television in those regions. You don't really think that Iowa is a magical place where everyone gets to see Cubs games, White Sox games, Royals games, Brewers games, Twins games, and Cardinal games, do you?
And who decides the blackout zones?
Ahh myp2p.eu . Fun site. Apart from my one stop for cricket, good way to get world news. Al-Jazeera is interesting sometimes!
The thing is, MLBAM doesn't set the blackout rules, MLB does. You can conflate the two, but the folks at MLB.tv don't have the ability to change the rules. I'm sure they would if they could - it would make their lives a lot easier, and increase the value of the package.
They figured out a way to work within the crazy blackout rules and still provide the product. To borrow a phrase, that's bragable.
Your right, this is the first I have seen it brought up. What is the problem?
I'll also add that not everybody in the world are in a position to stay at home and watch a game on TV, thus the appeal of MLB on the internet.
Agreed. But because some sub-set of users does not like it does not mean that most users don't, such as a Detroit Tigers fan located in Washington DC. My impression is that this is the user MLB.tv is really targeting.
Is there absolutely any reason to believe this is true? This is like the argument of the music companies that legal users should be thankful for restrictive DRM because there's absolutely no way they'd have the music files otherwise. And, of course, we know that this isn't true - anybody can get practically any music they want.
If MLB.TV doesn't exist, there would be no legal way to have MLB.TV. Pirate feeds are a huge problem for the NFL now.
MLB does not have free choice here. They're doing a great job giving people an internet product that they're willing to pay for, but they could do better and as bandwidth available becomes greater and streaming video becomes more and more ordinary, MLB's going to have to keep up with what people can get for free and that's going to mean doing something about the blackouts.
Not to their customers it isn't.
Agreed. But because some sub-set of users does not like it does not mean that most users don't, such as a Detroit Tigers fan located in Washington DC. My impression is that this is the user MLB.tv is really targeting.
Yes, because they are not allowed to target the vast majority of Detroit Tiger fans.
And who decides the blackout zones?
You have it backwards - the broadcasters pay the teams for the rights to broadcast the games.
The blackout areas came about as a result of the 30 MLB teams negotiating with one another. Let's say that you're the Boston Red Sox. Normally, you'd want to reserve the rights to broadcast all Red Sox games to yourself, to do with what you please, everywhere and anywhere.
But obviously, that's not going to work, because the teams that you play against have their own broadcast rights - you can't stop the Orioles from selling the rights to broadcast Orioles-Red Sox games. So you work out what geographical areas you do have the exclusive rights to, and where there's overlap with other teams, you work it out with them.
No, though I suspect you can likely grab at least a couple of those games at some time, or at least the Cubs.
Also, is this the norm for most people. In the DC region, I assume Orioles and Nationals games are blacked out, but that a user can get everyone else. However, you can then go to your cable channel and see either team. I am not saying the system is perfect, just that most fans live in areas where MLB.tv is a good thing, even with the blackouts (as I understand them).
Because some one has already paid quite a bit of money for that right.
I'm totally willing to posit that the blackout areas are ridiculously big, and the owners might be better-served by shrinking them.
But there's not a whole lot MLB.tv can do about that. They have to work within the guidelines that MLB gives them, and they've done a pretty good job of that.
I am blacked out from six different teams. The nearest of these teams is a 4-hour drive; the furthest is 9 hours away. Only two of the six teams are actually shown on the "local" FoxSports affiliate. (I put "local" in quotes because there is no true local affiliate, it's just the feed from the nearest city that does have a local Fox Sports affiliate.)
Why I'd be blacked out from a team that's a 9-hour drive away is beyond me. I purchased MLB.tv every year from its inception until I moved to my current location and saw what I'd have to put up with. MLB can kiss my butt.
Yes, I am quite angry about this issue.
On an south-to-north line:
Oakland--------------------Sacramento-----------------------Chico
Warrior games were blacked out on basic cable in Chico. Kings games were not.
As I noted earlier, Blue Jay games are blacked out across Canada. This really sucks for me because I live in BC and thus, games usually start at 4:00 here. I typically do not get home in time to catch more than maybe the last 2 or 3 innings. Also, not all the games are broadcast here. Some games are on "Sportsnet Ontario" but not "Sportsnet Pacific."
MLB.tv, which they frigging advertise on the tv even though they must know that it's useless to 90% of its audience, seems like a great solution. I can watch my Jays even when they're not on TV, and I can actually catch the early part of the game when I have access to a computer but not a TV, right?
I do pay for MLB.tv anyway and am really impressed with it. I wish the NHL would catch up. This kind of video quality online is terrific, and not even close to matched with Myp2p.eu, etc.
That's hardly the same as people in the area having access to the games.
MLB's choices will eventually be made for them. As technology gets better, the better the alternatives become for watching MLB online without paying for MLB. When we get to the point at which the choice is stealing a better product than MLB is selling, MLB will lose a crapload of money thanks to their blackout rules.
I think that this is certainly possible.
Didn't Maury write something about how the owners were going to re-visit the blackout areas, but when the economy went in the tank, they got scared of giving up anything?
That may be true at some point, but ignores that fact that they are making a crap load of money because of some of these black out rules. I don't doubt some of the details could be changed, but as long as regional channels pay each club lots of money, I don't see this changing.
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