Football and other premium TV being pirated at 'industrial scale'

[douglas9]

A lack of action by big tech firms is enabling the "industrial scale theft" of premium video services, especially live sport, a new report says.

The research by Enders Analysis accuses Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft of "ambivalence and inertia" over a problem it says costs broadcasters revenue and puts users at an increased risk of cyber-crime.

Gareth Sutcliffe and Ollie Meir, who authored the research, described the Amazon Fire Stick - which they argue is the device many people use to access illegal streams - as "a piracy enabler".

Amazon told BBC News that it remained "vigilant in our efforts to combat piracy".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3n7dx2174o

[OldBaldy1701E]

1. Hmm...

Amazon told BBC News that it remained "vigilant in our efforts to combat piracy".

Let me fix this for you there, Amazon...

Amazon told BBC News that it remained "vigilant in our efforts to combat piracy make sure we don't lose a single coin!".

There we go...

[Callie1979]

2. Sports should be accessible to everyone on network TV. I'll proudly steal a "pay" game

Especially since most pro teams get some level of tax money.

[hlthe2b]

3. I really resent being geographically blocked from games that are streamed on an app I pay for...

Talking to you, Paramount Plus... I live in Colorado so I automatically can't watch a Kansas City Chiefs game? (yes, I am aware of ways to get around that, so no need to post. But, given I pay for Paramount plus, I don't feel guilty going around them for this crap... Yeah, it is NFL restrictions, but still).

I have Roku, so I have no idea what Amazon Fire Stick is or is not offering, so I'll not comment on that. We are rapidly losing network TV, so...

[Callie1979]

5. So you PAY for the streamer but still get blacked out??? Thats crazy!!

[hlthe2b]

7. Yup... I'm pretty sure it is an NFL thing, but it still pisses me off. Paramount+ should do something about

that...

[Jirel]

4. Good.

Those leeches should lose money. Sports casting should not be “premium,” have blackouts, etc. Taxes pay for that useless stupidity, from giving teams nearly free arenas, to paying for traffic control in cities around those events, to upgrading parking facilities, transit, and entertainment districts. People lose their homes to construction to support sports teams. People living or working near stadiums deal with parking nightmares and jacked up prices. The more money lost by teams and sportscasting, the happier I am.

As for other “premium tv” losses, give me a break. TV used to be paid for by ads. Then cable came on the scene with the promise that because it was pay tv, there would be no ads. Then the promise was “less” ads. Then it was as ad-filled as any broadcast tv with ever rising prices. Then streaming came along, so people have to pay for subscription after subscription, often on top of cable they already pay for, if they want specific shows. I have no sympathy for the whining of media execs on this. If people can pirate it, more power to them.

[Callie1979]

6. FAR more ads on cable networks than legacy networks.

I swear I think anything on E! or MTV has 15 mins of ads for every 30 mins