| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services 11:36 - Oct 18 with 2113 views | WeWereZombies |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/art
'Piracy has become endemic in British sports: around half of sports fans now admit to using what they might euphemistically call "alternative" means to watch paywalled material, according to the consultancy Ampere Analysis.'
'In August, a man in Lancashire was jailed for six and a half years for running an illegal streaming service that police said had generated almost £1m in illicit profits. In June, a postman from Pembrokeshire was jailed for over three years for selling illegal subscriptions and supplying pirate software to nearly 2,000 people.'
'This year's Champions League final went behind a paywall in the UK for the first time in more than 30 years. Viewers were asked to pay at least £4.99 to watch it, prompting a backlash, including from the then-prime minister, Arsenal fan Sir Keir Starmer.
"Hardworking people shouldn't have to fork out for a subscription to watch this match," he wrote on X.
Many simply refused to pay: 3.7 million IP addresses accessed illegal streams of the match in the UK, according to research carried out by the Gaming Compliance International consultancy, on behalf of the Guardian newspaper. That compared to around seven million people who watched it legally in the UK.'
'But there's another issue, he says: the famous blackout. Games taking place between 14:45 and 17:15 on a Saturday are not usually screened live in the UK, a decades-old policy designed to protect crowds at lower league matches. But broadcasters outside the UK can and do show those matches, fuelling pirated streams.'
'Streaming links, along with advice on how to avoid their pitfalls, are freely available in online discussion groups. These links, used by Kiran and his friends, have practical downsides – such as frequent buffering or poor quality, or platforms that disappear without warning.'
'Earlier this year, the Sports Industry Group found that 58% of fans surveyed considered illegal streaming to be socially acceptable.'
'As the government's Intellectual Property Office puts it, "a main driver of illegal content access is the perception of unfair or high pricing for legal services".
A British person wanting to access all live Premier League games, for example, would need subscriptions to both Sky Sports and TNT Sports.'
'Now, however, the mood has shifted. Conventional broadcasting is under pressure as advertising revenues fall and viewers move away from long-term subscription services, towards more flexible offers from streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Both Sky and TNT Sports have reported losses.'
'DAZN paid a reported €100m (£85m) to end the contract (along with outstanding rights fees worth another €140m), its departure created a hole in the French league's finances. It was left to set up its own streaming service, and the amount of broadcast income fell from roughly €700m per year to €412m this season, according to figures compiled by football-finance.com.
For a European powerhouse like Paris St Germain, with plenty of other revenue sources, this probably matters little. But for smaller teams it has been a serious problem. Angers SCO, a club in the west of France, said last year the affair had cost it €30m over two seasons, and forced it to sell its striker Estéban Lepaul.'
'A key part of the solution, according to the industry-funded Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact), is changing attitudes among consumers.
Nick Sumner, the organisation's investigations manager, insists piracy is not a victimless crime. "Organised crime is behind this, and they want to make money by any means possible," he explains.
It also leaves users at risk of fraud, he warns. "They capture… a lot of personal data, which they can then sell for criminal gain."'
'n the UK, downloading or streaming pirated content can be a crime. Yet the chances of viewers themselves being prosecuted for watching a cheeky Saturday game on a pirate stream are extremely low.' |  |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 16:28 - Oct 18 with 1724 views | baxterbasics |
No sympathy whatsoever, when prices are what they are, requiring multiple subs, and with blackout making it impossible to find a legal means.
Long live FAWA news. |  |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 16:30 - Oct 18 with 1706 views | redrickstuhaart |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 16:28 - Oct 18 by baxterbasics |
No sympathy whatsoever, when prices are what they are, requiring multiple subs, and with blackout making it impossible to find a legal means.
Long live FAWA news. |
Quite.
They have milked and milked. Now you need multiple expensive subs just to be able to get the games you are interested in. They priced themselves out of their own market. |  |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 19:30 - Oct 18 with 1547 views | armchaircritic59 |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 16:30 - Oct 18 by redrickstuhaart |
Quite.
They have milked and milked. Now you need multiple expensive subs just to be able to get the games you are interested in. They priced themselves out of their own market. |
The milkers are themselves being milked. Something good about that. if you can't take it, don't give it out. |  | | |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 19:36 - Oct 18 with 1522 views | GlasgowBlue |
I pay for Sky and TNT. But there is simply no other way to watch my team play at 3pm on a Saturday, if I am unable to make the game, other than through 'alternative' means.
When we were in the EFL it was possible to become an international subscriber, so the club at least benefited from a subscription. I would quite happily pay Sky, TNT, ITFC or whoever, to watch Town play at 3pm on a Saturday. [Post edited 18 Oct 19:42]
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:12 - Oct 18 with 1433 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 16:28 - Oct 18 by baxterbasics |
No sympathy whatsoever, when prices are what they are, requiring multiple subs, and with blackout making it impossible to find a legal means.
Long live FAWA news. |
”… making it impossible to find a legal means”
This is not strictly true. Whist using FAWA news is piracy, and illegal, paying for an overseas subscription and deploying a VPN is not illegal. It likely contravenes the TOS of the service provider, but the worst they can do (if they detect it) is terminate your service.
I dumped Sky over 10 years ago, due to their price gouging, and never looked back. | | | |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:13 - Oct 18 with 1428 views | armchaircritic59 |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 19:36 - Oct 18 by GlasgowBlue |
I pay for Sky and TNT. But there is simply no other way to watch my team play at 3pm on a Saturday, if I am unable to make the game, other than through 'alternative' means.
When we were in the EFL it was possible to become an international subscriber, so the club at least benefited from a subscription. I would quite happily pay Sky, TNT, ITFC or whoever, to watch Town play at 3pm on a Saturday. [Post edited 18 Oct 19:42]
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I believe Sky's position on not allowing broadcasts of Saturday 3pm kick off's is something to do with not wanting it to affect lower league attendances at least in part if not all, or at least that what I believe they say it is. If wrong, no doubt someone can correct me. My take on that being, if you're a genuine supporter of " Whoever United " playing in a lower league, you'll turn up to watch your team, even if Man C, Arsenal, Liverpool etc, are on the box. The powers that be would be mutch better off ensuring that more of the money made at the higher levels of the game, filters down through the system. Though trying to get the " Big Boys " ( of which we are currently one! ) to agree to a slightly smaller slice of the pie, might be rather difficult! | | | |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:16 - Oct 18 with 1422 views | redrickstuhaart |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:12 - Oct 18 by SuffolkPunchFC |
”… making it impossible to find a legal means”
This is not strictly true. Whist using FAWA news is piracy, and illegal, paying for an overseas subscription and deploying a VPN is not illegal. It likely contravenes the TOS of the service provider, but the worst they can do (if they detect it) is terminate your service.
I dumped Sky over 10 years ago, due to their price gouging, and never looked back. |
Agreed with what you say and your analysis.
No obvious basis for an offence if you are paying for a service from someone. I use Peacock. Though it doesnt cover quite all of our games. | |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:19 - Oct 18 with 1413 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:13 - Oct 18 by armchaircritic59 |
I believe Sky's position on not allowing broadcasts of Saturday 3pm kick off's is something to do with not wanting it to affect lower league attendances at least in part if not all, or at least that what I believe they say it is. If wrong, no doubt someone can correct me. My take on that being, if you're a genuine supporter of " Whoever United " playing in a lower league, you'll turn up to watch your team, even if Man C, Arsenal, Liverpool etc, are on the box. The powers that be would be mutch better off ensuring that more of the money made at the higher levels of the game, filters down through the system. Though trying to get the " Big Boys " ( of which we are currently one! ) to agree to a slightly smaller slice of the pie, might be rather difficult! |
You’re right that it’s supposed to protect game attendance, but it has nothing to do with Sky and was introduced in the 1960s | | | |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:49 - Oct 18 with 1329 views | Mark |
I pay £22.a month for Sky Sports through Now TV at the moment, which isn't too bad, but I won't pay for TNT. If a match isn't on Sky I will either listen on the radio, follow on the BBC Sports app, or just do something else and check the scores later.
I would be more annoyed if Ipswich were in Europe, as TNT prices are too much and having two subscriptions would be expensive. I resent them taking the football from ITV, which used to be free for us all to watch.
Ipswich Women matches are in YouTube for free and I enjoy watching those. [Post edited 18 Oct 20:50]
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:57 - Oct 18 with 1299 views | DanTheMan |
Make it a reasonable price and people will pay it. It's that simple. |  |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 21:45 - Oct 18 with 1171 views | CrayonKing |
Software and music both went through this - you need to offer a better product than the pirated service. Currently I can watch any sport I want, in a browser, on any device I own. I can use my Linux PC, Steam Deck, Mac, iPad, phone, and as many devices as I like - no 5-device limits or any of that nonsense. No need to install different apps for different channels. Everything in one place.
The only downside is that the quality isn't always great and occasionally it needs a page refresh when things buffer for too long.
Give me that in HD (or better) with reliable streams and you've got a customer who'll pay £30-50 a month. Try and gouge me with Sky Sports, HBO Max (TNT), F1 all needing extra payments and apps not available on some of my devices then I'll stick with the superior free service, thanks. |  | | |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 08:42 - Oct 19 with 825 views | GeoffSentence |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 21:45 - Oct 18 by CrayonKing |
Software and music both went through this - you need to offer a better product than the pirated service. Currently I can watch any sport I want, in a browser, on any device I own. I can use my Linux PC, Steam Deck, Mac, iPad, phone, and as many devices as I like - no 5-device limits or any of that nonsense. No need to install different apps for different channels. Everything in one place.
The only downside is that the quality isn't always great and occasionally it needs a page refresh when things buffer for too long.
Give me that in HD (or better) with reliable streams and you've got a customer who'll pay £30-50 a month. Try and gouge me with Sky Sports, HBO Max (TNT), F1 all needing extra payments and apps not available on some of my devices then I'll stick with the superior free service, thanks. |
Software is going through this again. Most notably Adobe's entire suite has been reversed engineered and is available free of charge. The motivation for the team behind it being never ending subscription fees and cancellation charges.
Nostalgia footnote: it seems people actually liked the days when you just bought something and owned it. |  |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 08:54 - Oct 19 with 805 views | Swansea_Blue |
“'A key part of the solution, according to the industry-funded Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact), is changing attitudes among consumers.”
Hmm, really? Could a key part of the solution not instead be to question why football has become a play thing of the rich, become divorced from reality and fans turned into consumers? I don’t use illegal streams, but it’s not hard to see why people use them. |  |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 09:05 - Oct 19 with 765 views | DanTheMan |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 08:54 - Oct 19 by Swansea_Blue |
“'A key part of the solution, according to the industry-funded Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact), is changing attitudes among consumers.”
Hmm, really? Could a key part of the solution not instead be to question why football has become a play thing of the rich, become divorced from reality and fans turned into consumers? I don’t use illegal streams, but it’s not hard to see why people use them. |
I enjoyed this:
"In the case of the Premier League, this might just mean fewer blockbuster transfers - but it could also reduce the sum the League gives to the wider football game, from grassroots upwards, which amounted to £1.6bn over the three years to 2025."
The fans never asked for 100mil+ transfer fees. It makes sod all difference to the game other than "number big".
And the pyramid wouldn't need the amount of money it does if it wasn't so skewed by the inflated PL. | |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 09:07 - Oct 19 with 754 views | Swansea_Blue |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 08:42 - Oct 19 by GeoffSentence |
Software is going through this again. Most notably Adobe's entire suite has been reversed engineered and is available free of charge. The motivation for the team behind it being never ending subscription fees and cancellation charges.
Nostalgia footnote: it seems people actually liked the days when you just bought something and owned it. |
I’ve dumped everything that’s gone to a subscription model: Microsoft, Adobe, the whole lot. There are pretty good open source alternatives for just a home user like me. It all adds up when you look across software, music, TV, phone and before you know it you can have £100-150 month just on subscriptions. | |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 09:18 - Oct 19 with 724 views | baxterbasics |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 08:42 - Oct 19 by GeoffSentence |
Software is going through this again. Most notably Adobe's entire suite has been reversed engineered and is available free of charge. The motivation for the team behind it being never ending subscription fees and cancellation charges.
Nostalgia footnote: it seems people actually liked the days when you just bought something and owned it. |
Yep, I still have standalone versions of Word and Excel from the Windows 7 era on my home PC and they do everything I need. 'Software as a service' might be ok for businesses but otherwise it's a big con.
I have also recently digitised my CD collection so I don't need to rely on Spotify or similar for my listening. | |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 09:42 - Oct 19 with 677 views | HighgateBlue |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:19 - Oct 18 by SuffolkPunchFC |
You’re right that it’s supposed to protect game attendance, but it has nothing to do with Sky and was introduced in the 1960s |
It's funny, because Sky has done more than anyone to destroy Saturday game attendances by moving almost every bloody game away from a Saturday!
The easiest way to ensure that nobody shoots endangered species anymore is to shoot them all, so there's none left to shoot. That's Sky's idea of protecting Saturday attendances... |  | | |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 10:39 - Oct 19 with 602 views | monty_radio |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 20:49 - Oct 18 by Mark |
I pay £22.a month for Sky Sports through Now TV at the moment, which isn't too bad, but I won't pay for TNT. If a match isn't on Sky I will either listen on the radio, follow on the BBC Sports app, or just do something else and check the scores later.
I would be more annoyed if Ipswich were in Europe, as TNT prices are too much and having two subscriptions would be expensive. I resent them taking the football from ITV, which used to be free for us all to watch.
Ipswich Women matches are in YouTube for free and I enjoy watching those. [Post edited 18 Oct 20:50]
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I enjoy the free women's matches too, but you have to say that in terms of cameras, close-ups, replays etc you don't get what you haven't paid for. | |
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| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 11:40 - Oct 19 with 516 views | RobTheMonk |
If you like Champions League and Premier League, you're going to need Sky Sports, TNT and Prime at some point of the season...
If you're in 'another country' you can get all of this and more for around £11 a month. From a legitimate service too. |  | | |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 12:42 - Oct 19 with 405 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
| BBC 'In Depth' about crackdown on streaming services on 11:40 - Oct 19 by RobTheMonk |
If you like Champions League and Premier League, you're going to need Sky Sports, TNT and Prime at some point of the season...
If you're in 'another country' you can get all of this and more for around £11 a month. From a legitimate service too. |
It’s ironically a case of competition backfiring. Think the EU broke up Sky’s monopoly broadcast rights, but then meant people needed multiple platforms.
Away tickets are virtually impossible to get for a number of years. People want to watch their team so will find alternative ways. Give us tenner PPV like Ifollow for non broadcast games and people will pay it. | | | |
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