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Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

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Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#51
post #36

I'd like to see physical switches on all electronics that CUT POWER to cameras and mics and have a clear indicator when they are active or not. I don't know that people would use them, but I'd like to have the option.

I would use them! I loved the physical WiFi switches on old laptops. These need to come back. A physical button for airplay mode. I would buy the latest iPhone the day it comes if Apple does this.

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But since the cable prices are too high, and nothing on free to air, they have to in order to attract crowds. Somehow I find it hard to believe a business can't afford cable. Even if it costs $200 / month, surely they ought to be able to cover that.

$200 is not that far off from what an individual would pay. Surely the rebroadcast rights that a bar would need are much, much higher than that, no?

I know pay-per-view typically works that way. I remember seeing the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight costed bars something like $30 x bar capacity to air.

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#54
Semi-related, the technology used in Shazam and other music ID services grew from companies that monitored radio stations to make sure they were playing all the ads they'd been paid for.

In the mid-2000s, I worked on a Shazam-like text message service that would ID songs on the radio for you, and send you an iTunes purchase link. You texted us the radio station you were listening to, and we sent that and the timestamp to a server run by a company with listening stations all over the US, and it told us what song it was hearing at that time. The company's main clients were advertisers checking up on radio stations, but the technology worked just as well for music.

It was a pretty sweet little service for the time, but sadly we never launched. I was amused when I saw far more polished apps like Shazam doing essentially the same thing, years later.

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#55
post #46

One of those cases where both sides are in the mud. La Liga is struggling with piracy of games for long. They have been trying to make money of their product (football essentially features two of the greatest players to play the game in last 10 years, only one now) but struggle due to their whacky ideas and no care about fans. Sample this: The timings of games are as early as 12PM (spanish siesta is at 4PM) and as la…

My key take away from your comment is F1 has non geo-fenced service. I just went on their website, and I'm blown away. You can select a cockpit to stream, you have a bunch of geeky data, all while you can watch the GP in it's traditional way. I might get back into F1 just for this.

This could be done with football too (albeit a little more limited, but still). That would actually be cool.

If only they spent all the money they used to identify the games on actual customer-beneficial things ...

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#56

One of those cases where both sides are in the mud. La Liga is struggling with piracy of games for long. They have been trying to make money of their product (football essentially features two of the greatest players to play the game in last 10 years, only one now) but struggle due to their whacky ideas and no care about fans. Sample this: The timings of games are as early as 12PM (spanish siesta is at 4PM) and as la…

> But since the cable prices are too high, and nothing on free to air, they have to in order to attract crowds. Somehow I find it hard to believe a business can't afford cable. Even if it costs $200 / month, surely they ought to be able to cover that.

Spanish bars truly are a perfect example of a race to the bottom, when it comes to prices. Sure, the financial crisis hit the country really hard, but trying to attract customers by lowering prices is not the best strategy in the long term.

This is when 200 € / month hurt - because you already run on a very tiny profit margin.

Soccer / football is such a huge thing in Spain, people would understand if they need to pay a little extra for their drinks or food in bars that have decent infrastructure to broadcast the games. Yet somehow most bar owners are afraid to take the risk.

I know this, because I used to live there for many years, and keep going there to visit relatives many times a year.

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No bar is going to install a cell, gps or wifi jammer to avoid a small fine... as doing so would put them out of business. No customer is going to hang out in a bar where their cell phone doesn't work.

What bar is going to be quiet enough for sound fingerprinting to work?

Obviously plenty were, hence the article's premise.

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#58

One of those cases where both sides are in the mud. La Liga is struggling with piracy of games for long. They have been trying to make money of their product (football essentially features two of the greatest players to play the game in last 10 years, only one now) but struggle due to their whacky ideas and no care about fans. Sample this: The timings of games are as early as 12PM (spanish siesta is at 4PM) and as la…

> But since the cable prices are too high, and nothing on free to air, they have to in order to attract crowds. Somehow I find it hard to believe a business can't afford cable. Even if it costs $200 / month, surely they ought to be able to cover that.

We're talking about Spain. They recently emerged from a gruelling recession, their shadow economy makes up an estimated 20% of real GDP, and competition ran their profits into the ground. Even if small businesses have the cash, there's no incentive for them to spend it, and they're probably still in hoarding-cash mode.

Re: Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games

#59
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$200 is not that far off from what an individual would pay. Surely the rebroadcast rights that a bar would need are much, much higher than that, no?

I know pay-per-view typically works that way. I remember seeing the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight costed bars something like $30 x bar capacity to air.

Commercial licenses for standard cable are surprisingly reasonable per receiver (when compared to consumer) at $87.99 a month for DirecTV. Keep in mind many bars have 10+ receivers so they can show multiple events. If you scroll down, it gets ugly on specific sports packages. NFL Sunday Ticket tops out at $2680/year, compared to about $300 for consumer.

https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/directv-for-business/...

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