The NFL Wants You To Think These Things Are Illegal

[DamianTV]

http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/02/01/010236/the-nfl-wants-you-to-think-these-things-are-illegal
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/01/the-nfl-wants-you-to-think-these-things-are-illegal/


Professional sports have become a minefield of copyright and trademark issues, and no event moreso than the Super Bowl. Sherwin Siy of Public Knowledge has an article debunking some of the things the NFL has convinced people they can't do, even through they're perfectly legal. For example, you've probably heard the warning about how "descriptions" and "accounts" of the game are prohibited without the NFL's consent. That's all hogwash: "The NFL would be laughed out of court for trying to prevent them from doing so—just because you have a copyright in a work doesn't mean you can prevent people from talking about it. Copyright simply doesn't extend that far." Recording the game and watching it later is just fine, too.

[Uriel999]

I'm sorry, I don't have any reason to pay attention to the circus. Watching the empire burn is much more interesting.

[Matt Collins]

I'm sorry, I don't have any reason to pay attention to the circus. Watching the empire burn is much more interesting.
Exactly...

Now that being said in regards to the OP - yeah the NFL might be laughed out of court, but it might cost you millions to defend yourself up to that point.... and they have billions to spend to drag it out

[idiom]

Recording the game and watching it later is just fine, too.

Tell that to Aereo. They just went to the Supreme court and lost on that.

[heavenlyboy34]

I'm sorry, I don't have any reason to pay attention to the circus. Watching the empire burn is much more interesting.

I find it depressing most of the time. There are a few entertaining moments, but I happen to enjoy watching/playing sports occasionally. (fight sports and olympic events, primarily. American mainstream games are boring.)

[CPUd]

IIRC, that language had something to do with bars who had satellite dishes charging people to come in and watch blacked-out games. These were the old dishes that you could actually move around, so they could pick up feeds from other regions that were broadcasting the game.

One time I watched a (AFC championship) game at a local movie theater, though I don't know how they pulled it off. We had to "donate" like 5 or 10 bucks to get in. They had a bar and everything in there.

[anaconda]

The NFL business model lost me as a customer. Too may teams, free agency, etc. You're pretty much cheering for a uniform these days. And what's with the players carrying on like a bunch of undisciplined hoodlums? Infantile celebratory head butting. Dreadlocks hanging out of helmets by a foot or more? Tom Brady's potty mouth? It's just a cesspool of classless stupid. The only commendable thing about the NFL is that it appears to be rigorously officiated, unlike the joke that exists in the NBA.

[DamianTV]

Tell that to Aereo. They just went to the Supreme court and lost on that.

Whaaaaat? So the PIRATES were actually the GOOD GUYS all along?

(btw Pirate Bay is back up and running again...)

[Matt Collins]

Tell that to Aereo. They just went to the Supreme court and lost on that.Time shifting for personal reasons is acceptable. Running a business that does that to earn money has been deemed unlawful.

[surf]

I've come to believe the NFL is one of the most powerful businesses in the world. even FIFA looks on the NFL with envy.

one of the problems with this particular Super Bowl had to do with the secondary ticket market. taking a cue from Wall St, ticket brokers made markets selling short and got their asses handed to them when prices spiked (cheapest seat on stubhub yesterday at the top of section 420 was listed at $11,500). in Seattle we were subject to many reports of folks that sold their children and drove to Phoenix having plunked down $2500 for an $800 ticket only to find out there were no tickets waiting for them (SB tickets are still "hard" tickets). for these poor folks, i'm hoping restitution will be made in full.

of course, this may have made the NFL look bad (while denying a link between football caused concussions and brain injuries still flies in NFL offices). Look for the NFL to address this issue by imposing new regulations on secondary markets in NFL cities through their legislative arm. Yes, I believe the NFL is that powerful.

in the meantime, the goddamn Seahawks have decided not to replace the shitty turf field at taxpayer stadium meaning our Seattle Sounders (the [un]official football club of RPF) will be forced to play another year on lousy turf for soccer. for a reference point not seen elsewhere in this country, the Sounders draw more fans during their season than the Seahawks do.