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WSJ taunts the NFL with couch-based live-blogging
At the end of August, the NFL decided to institute a number of rules prohibiting the use of social media by teams and referees on match day - as well as rules that banned the media from providing live play-by-play coverage of matches. As was pointed out at the time, the rules are easily imposed on officially-sanctioned media reps at matches - but what's to stop the average Joe in the stands updating Twitter or their blog as the match goes on, or mainstream media who want to provide play-by-play coverage online by sitting on their couch at home and blogging? That's exactly what the Wall Street Journal's Peter Sanders did in the recent New York Jets / Tennessee Titans match.
Of course, the NFL is simply working to protect its lucrative television revenue deals (and, ironically, the couch-based writer is part of that revenue stream), however the crackdown on live-blogging certainly seems futile given that only forces the hand of bonafide media at matches - and the NFL certainly can't control or crack down on every Twitter user sat watching a match and sharing scores...
[Via TechDirt]
Comments
4
Subscribe to commentsSeomanOct 4th 2009 1:19PM
Interesting. I wonder if they'll try to invoke copyright law or something to try to shut this down, or just let it go? Might be able to make the argument that they're "rebroadcasting" their copyrighted recording, but since he's just stating the material facts of the game and providing his own commentary, I think it'd be hard to make that stick.
Of course, attempting to shut this down will probably backfire due to the Streisand effect, but I've never known a media company to let that stop them before. Probably the most likely recourse the NFL would pursue would be to blacklist any such media outlets that tried from covering games live... which, since they already grant exclusivity to a few media outlets already, is hardly a big loss.
DrewOct 4th 2009 5:33PM
There is no such thing as a football "match". There are only football GAMES :)
kojo87Oct 4th 2009 8:54PM
he's British and blogs on TUAW. he doen't get it :P
enerGIOct 5th 2009 6:44AM
The NFL are tossers. You go on their website during a live game and try to get a live radio broadcast online and they want to charge you for it. Pay Pay Pay, is nothing for free anymore. Greedy.