TV Alert - British Eurosport 2008 Cup of Russia

[Ptichka]

As a reasonable and logic person, you still haven't grasped IN's mad logic.

Look, IN is not wielding an ax over youtube/ rutube etc. They don't rule this county, much less the world. Let's just keep it into perspective - it's Google who took down those posters' accounts, not IN. It is ultimately their responsibility to evaluate each complaint and act accordingly. By the same token, whatever IN wants to happen in other countries is really not all that relevant.

 

[Mathman]

Look, IN is not wielding an ax over youtube/ rutube etc. They don't rule this county, much less the world. Let's just keep it into perspective - it's Google who took down those posters' accounts, not IN.

True, but if IceNetwork is sending YouTube nasty notes on letterhead from their legal firm threatening legal unpleasantries, Google does not have any reason to stand up for the sport of figure skating. It takes the course of least resistance and it is the fans who suffer.

Setting aside legal squabbles, IMO the USFSA should think about what is best for figure skating in the U.S. rather than "going ISU" on us by supposing that the organization is bigger than the sport.

Larry - that's what the Memorial Fund is for.

Exactly. IceNetwork should contribute to the Memorial Fund instead of paying high priced lawyers to harrasss fans. (JMO.)

 

[Dodhiyel]

.... It takes the course of least resistance and it is the fans who suffer....

I am afraid, Mathman, that it is not the fans who suffer most; it is the sport itself.

There is a case of a long-time successful company driven out of business by a foolish policy they suddenly adopted. It was obviously a great mistake on their part. I do not think that figure skating will "go out of business", but I think, that when the dust has settled, the audience for it is apt to have shrunk considerably.

I love tennis, but the ATP has decided to put the Masters Series on pay-for-streaming by putting one's credit card number online. Already, I find myself less interested than I was before, in what is going on in the tennis world.

Timing is important when one makes changes in one's business. For example, you don't decide to have store re-design construction work done during the Christmas shopping season. That's just common sense; but a previously successful company did that. Making figure skating practically invisible to the majority of people in the U.S. during a period of financial strain for the whole country, is obviously an impractical course.

The cherry on the sundae for me, is that the ISU schedule and results site for Cup of Russia is still not up. Has IceNetwork decided that we should not even read of the results? I hope that is not the case, and that the failure to post schedule and results on the ISU site is merely an oversight...

OK, sorry, I get it now; the ISU results website will probably come up at the last minute, because of the *live* streaming on Eurosport.

 

[Tonichelle]

Exactly. IceNetwork should contribute to the Memorial Fund instead of paying high priced lawyers to harrasss fans. (JMO.)

right, the IN has no right to protect its product or its contract. what's the point of contracts at all...

 

[Buttercup]

right, the IN has no right to protect its product or its contract. what's the point of contracts at all...

IN has every right to protect its product and their investment, even if by doing so they're harming and alienating their fanbase. But their product is figure skating coverage in the United States. If the source of a video on the internet is Eurosport, Russian TV, CCTV5 et al., or the cellphone of some girl in the stands, then it's really none of IN's business what non-American people are watching on non-American websites. For them to claim otherwise is ridiculous, and for Youtube to play along with it is just not right. Of course, if Eurosport or CCTV5 or anyone else has a problem with their own coverage turning up on Youtube, that's another matter.

 

[Mathman]

right, the IN has no right to protect its product or its contract. what's the point of contracts at all...

^ I am not talking about "rights" so much as about "doing the right thing."

Scrooge had the "right" to fire Bob Cratchet; doesn't mean it's the right thing to do (just ask Tiny Tim ).

 

[fiercemao]

IN has every right to protect its product and their investment, even if by doing so they're harming and alienating their fanbase. But their product is figure skating coverage in the United States. If the source of a video on the internet is Eurosport, Russian TV, CCTV5 et al., or the cellphone of some girl in the stands, then it's really none of IN's business what non-American people are watching on non-American websites. For them to claim otherwise is ridiculous, and for Youtube to play along with it is just not right. Of course, if Eurosport or CCTV5 or anyone else has a problem with their own coverage turning up on Youtube, that's another matter.

Bingo! That's exactly what has irrated so many of us. IN's behavior is simply mad aggression. It's just ridiculous for some posters to defend their indefensive actions at every turn. It almost makes you wonder whether these folks have some sort of financial interest in IN.

Anyway, IN's action is doomed to fail. Last time I checked, Caroline Zhang was still proudly skating her beautiful gala program on dailymotion, Russian site, Chinese site etc.
http://www.dailymotion.com/fsqueen/video/x7fvh0_caroline-zhang-teb-08-gala_sport

 

[MissIzzy]

right, the IN has no right to protect its product or its contract. what's the point of contracts at all...

Certainly they've got the right to do what they're doing. Doesn't mean they should do it, or that it's at all in their interest to do so.

 

[Hsuhs]

then it's really none of IN's business what non-American people are watching on non-American websites.

As long as it's non-American skaters, I think. The manner in which U.S. figure skaters are promoted, is determined by USFS and, thus, by IN.

 

[Tonichelle]

but we're talking internet broadcasting rights, not national television broadcasting rights.

we're getting our underwear all knotted in a bunch because we aren't getting our way. what's the point? there's a whole lot more that's 'wrong' in the world than some stupid skating subscription.

 

[fiercemao]

but we're talking internet broadcasting rights, not national television broadcasting rights.

.

I'm not sure whether you're aware of this. IN does not have internet broadcast rights in other countries, it only has internet broadcast rights in USA otherwise they won't block the internet viewing by fans in other countries.

CBC is live streams the GP events on their webcast, so it's obviously they have the exclusive rights, whether TV or internet rights in Canada.

WebTV obviously has internet rights in Russia. I believe Eurosports also webcasts GP events in Europe.

Don't you think it's really ridiculous for IN to ask a Russian guy to take off a video from a Russian source off a Russian site simply because they believe the Russian site makes it possible for American viewers to 'illegally' watch the videos online?

 

[Dodhiyel]

The Net is still relatively new. When videotape first became popular, there was a big dust-up over film copyrights, because people were taping movies from TV. The copyright owners found that they could not stop progress, i.e., videotaping, but they finally did find a workable solution to the problem. TV channels not only were inserting commercials and cutting movies to fit time slots, they also were putting their channel logo on the image, usually in the right-hand corner of the screen. The copyright owners discovered that their films would still sell to the public on videotape (and later sell again as DVDs). People getting a taste of a movie were often willing to pay handsomely for a clean, complete commercial copy with no distracting logos affixed, that they could watch again and again, whenever they chose. A new industry was born, a very lucrative one. Old films were making good money again, and old film studios seem to have risen from their ashes. It turned into a win-win situation, benefitting all concerned.

I am hoping that this Net dust-up will have a similarly happy ending. It could happen....lol

 

[Mathman]

we're getting our underwear all knotted in a bunch because we aren't getting our way. what's the point? there's a whole lot more that's 'wrong' in the world than some stupid skating subscription.

It's the principle of the thing. Gigantic billionaire corporation Google picking on the little guy who just wants to watch some figure skating. Right, like me checking out Alissa Czisny's Skate Canada LP on YouTube is going to do irreparable harm to Google.

Boo. Stick it to the man. Up the establishment. Power to the people. Google this! (That's what I say, anyway.)

 

[fiercemao]

It's the principle of the thing. Gigantic billionaire corporation Google picking on the little guy who just wants to watch some figure skating. Right, like me checking out Alissa Czisny's Skate Canada LP on YouTube is going to do irreparable harm to Google.

Boo. Stick it to the man. Up the establishment. Power to the people. Google this! (That's what I say, anyway.)

Yeeeeeeh!

 

[Dodhiyel]

It's the principle of the thing. Gigantic billionaire corporation Google picking on the little guy who just wants to watch some figure skating. Right, like me checking out Alissa Czisny's Skate Canada LP on YouTube is going to do irreparable harm to Google.

Boo. Stick it to the man. Up the establishment. Power to the people. Google this! (That's what I say, anyway.)

Thanks. I needed a good laugh today.

ETA: Every time I look at your second paragraph, I crack up again lololololol

 

[Buttercup]

As long as it's non-American skaters, I think. The manner in which U.S. figure skaters are promoted, is determined by USFS and, thus, by IN.

That's ok, then. I'm not that interested in most of the American skaters. Nothing against Americans; just not my favorites.

there's a whole lot more that's 'wrong' in the world than some stupid skating subscription.

That's pretty obvious. But just because something isn't a major, important, life or death issue, doesn't mean we shouldn't criticize or protest against it if it doesn't see right. A lot of the things we do get upset about, and maybe act against, are small, everyday things, not bigger problems that we may not be able to do much about anyway.

I mean really, we spend our time and energy here on GS discussing figure skating, which in the grand scheme of things isn't very meaningful, but which brings us joy and entertains us and maybe inspires us on occasion. That doesn't mean there aren't other things in our lives and other matters we care about.

 

[Dodhiyel]

....I mean really, we spend our time and energy here on GS discussing figure skating, which in the grand scheme of things isn't very meaningful, but which brings us joy and entertains us and maybe inspires us on occasion. That doesn't mean there aren't other things in our lives and other matters we care about.

Yep. :agree:

That's the point. This is a skating board; we are skating fans. That's why we are here.

A long time ago, I read something interesting about restaurants by a world-travelling food author. She pointed out that in some countries, such as France, the restaurant customers complain when the food is not right, and that therefore, France has excellent restaurant food. She also pointed out that in the U.S., people often felt embarrassed to complain when the food was not right; they just did not come back to that restaurant again. It is a cultural difference. In La Belle France, people are allowed to complain about a service without being made to feel guilty about it, so they get good restaurant food, and their restauranteurs are able to stay in business for a long time.....

I think we are doing IceNetwork a favor by giving them uncensored feedback on their latest venture. That is the best thing a prospective customer can do for an entrepreneur. And I am not kidding when I say that.

Hmmm, should I have said "mais oui" before instead of "yep"? lololololol

 

[Mathman]

I am hoping that this Net dust-up will have a similarly happy ending. It could happen....lol

That's the answer! All Icenetwork has to do it put up a little ad on all skating videos saying, "if you like this, check out IN." One hand washes the other!

She also pointed out that in the U.S., people often felt embarrassed to complain when the food was not right; they just did not come back to that restaurant again. It is a cultural difference.

I think it's more like, in the U.S. we don't complain about the food because we don't want a load of spit in the next course.

 

[demarinis5]

Boo. Stick it to the man. Up the establishment. Power to the people. Google this! (That's what I say, anyway.)

I think it's more like, in the U.S. we don't complain about the food because we don't want a load of spit in the next course.

Good lord Mathman you are on a roll. I am laughing out loud. Thanks I needed a good laugh after a rough day at work. "Up the establishment" and "Power to the people" I have not heard those chants in a long time, brings back memories.
:agree:.

 

[Tonichelle]

but anyone can get around the comercial part of a broadcast. I hit 'pause' when I record something from TV or I edit later. It's not hard...

same goes with the whole Youtube/online video source, a person can post as much of a video as they want. so there goes that little add at the end of each one... heck you can even zoom in to get rid of the little watermark logo.

Don't you think it's really ridiculous for IN to ask a Russian guy to take off a video from a Russian source off a Russian site simply because they believe the Russian site makes it possible for American viewers to 'illegally' watch the videos online?

nope. all that russian site has to do is the same thing IN does with non US viewers, block them out. They don't *have* to, but they *should.*