Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
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Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#2There's no question that Cablevision is acting like a bunch of jerks because they own the Knicks, Rangers and MSG. They have drastically increased their fees over the past decade like every other cable company has.
That said, Fred Wilson is not paying for MSG technically so it is piracy if he doesn't get it from the MSG network.
I've had to deal with many years of Cablevision fighting higher fees and blackouts from networks in which the fees are later passed onto the consumer. Frankly I have no sympathy.
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#3There's no question that Cablevision is acting like a bunch of jerks because they own the Knicks, Rangers and MSG. They have drastically increased their fees over the past decade like every other cable company has. That said, Fred Wilson is not paying for MSG technically so it is piracy if he doesn't get it from the MSG network. I've had to deal with many years of Cablevision fighting higher fees and blackouts from n…
But he already pays for Time Warner cable, NBA League Pass, and Knicks tickets. Why should he suffer because MSG is greedy?
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#4There's no question that Cablevision is acting like a bunch of jerks because they own the Knicks, Rangers and MSG. They have drastically increased their fees over the past decade like every other cable company has. That said, Fred Wilson is not paying for MSG technically so it is piracy if he doesn't get it from the MSG network. I've had to deal with many years of Cablevision fighting higher fees and blackouts from n…
But he already pays for Time Warner cable, NBA League Pass, and Knicks tickets. Why should he suffer because MSG is greedy?
1. He's not paying for MSG technically because Time Warner doesn't have the rights.
2. The League Pass is not for home teams. Every team has their own individual hometown deals and they want you to watch it on whatever network they make a deal with. The League Pass does not apply here.
3. Knicks tickets grant you a right to see the game in person and nothing else. Since Wilson is paying the price for season tickets that most spend their whole lives paying the same price for a house in NY, I'd suggest he go to watch them live.
I don't agree with these policies but this is what happens when you let cable companies buy networks. It should've stopped during the Cablevision acquisition of MSG but it has continued onward with Comcast and NBC.
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#5There's no question that Cablevision is acting like a bunch of jerks because they own the Knicks, Rangers and MSG. They have drastically increased their fees over the past decade like every other cable company has. That said, Fred Wilson is not paying for MSG technically so it is piracy if he doesn't get it from the MSG network. I've had to deal with many years of Cablevision fighting higher fees and blackouts from n…
But he already pays for Time Warner cable, NBA League Pass, and Knicks tickets. Why should he suffer because MSG is greedy?
Why? Because IP laws are incredibly unjust, that's why.
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#6As a non-cable subscriber and a big NBA fan, I find blackouts unbelievably frustrating. There is simply no legal way to watch some live NBA games unless you pay for cable. I'm constantly having to route my NBA broadband league pass through a proxy to watch my home team, and the only workaround for nationally televised games is to pirate them from sites like sportlemon.tv.
It's a classic case of frustrating customer experiences pushing users to piracy. If the NBA provided a way for me to legally pay to watch every game over the internet, I would gladly do so. In order to legally do this I have to have both a cable or satellite service in addition to a league pass subscription.
I understand that a fair amount of revenue for the NBA is probably coming from the deals it made with TNT, EPSN, and Fox, but a viewer is a viewer, whether they're watching from the net or through traditional venues - why do they care, so long as their advertisers are getting enough eyeballs?
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#7It is an interesting question. For example: is it wrong to download MP3s of songs you already own on CD? I don't believe so, but I bet you the RIAA would consider it so, even though they got paid.
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
But he already pays for Time Warner cable, NBA League Pass, and Knicks tickets. Why should he suffer because MSG is greedy?
1. He's not paying for MSG technically because Time Warner doesn't have the rights. 2. The League Pass is not for home teams. Every team has their own individual hometown deals and they want you to watch it on whatever network they make a deal with. The League Pass does not apply here. 3. Knicks tickets grant you a right to see the game in person and nothing else. Since Wilson is paying the price for season tickets t…
You don't agree with these policies yet you say you have no sympathy? Odd.
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. He's not paying for MSG technically because Time Warner doesn't have the rights. 2. The League Pass is not for home teams. Every team has their own individual hometown deals and they want you to watch it on whatever network they make a deal with. The League Pass does not apply here. 3. Knicks tickets grant you a right to see the game in person and nothing else. Since Wilson is paying the price for season tickets t…
You don't agree with these policies yet you say you have no sympathy? Odd.
No, I don't have sympathy. My sympathy goes to people who are actually struggling in this world and not for an investor who can afford Knicks tickets that is complaining about not being able to watch them on TV for a few days or weeks in a season that has already been delayed.
Re: Blackout Forces Fred Wilson to Pirate The Knicks. What Would Congress Think?
#10There's no question that Cablevision is acting like a bunch of jerks because they own the Knicks, Rangers and MSG. They have drastically increased their fees over the past decade like every other cable company has. That said, Fred Wilson is not paying for MSG technically so it is piracy if he doesn't get it from the MSG network. I've had to deal with many years of Cablevision fighting higher fees and blackouts from n…
But he already pays for Time Warner cable, NBA League Pass, and Knicks tickets. Why should he suffer because MSG is greedy?
This is the point that I hope gets taken away from this - piracy is often a last resort or because of the company people are pirating from, not out of laziness, greed, or wanting it for free. Sure, that does happen, but I have seen a lot of people buy a game from EA, and then pirate it to get a DRM and Origin free copy, since those often work better and crash less than the DRM ones. EA could easily do away with it, and piracy would drop. Companies need to realize the cause and effect of piracy.