Techdirt. Stories about "mlb" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories about "mlb"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:00:00 PST DailyDirt: Build It And They Will Come... Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100209/1104298096/dailydirt-build-it-they-will-come.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100209/1104298096/dailydirt-build-it-they-will-come.shtml
  • Enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame, Ed Weiland -- for being a bit less surprised than most about Linsanity. Weiland wrote in 2010: "... Jeremy Lin is a good enough player to start in the NBA and possibly star." [url]
  • Nate Silver called himself a forecaster, explained how he looked at baseball stats, and created the PECOTA system for evaluating MLB players. Baseball Prospectus bought the PECOTA system in 2003 and publishes its forecasts for all kinds of baseball fans and fantasy baseball leagues. [url]
  • The annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference has picked its top ten finalists for its Research Paper of the Year. These papers discuss various stats like "15% of basketball rebounds hit the floor before being collected." [url]
  • To find some other online challenges and games, check out what StumbleUpon has found to play. [url]  
    • By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100209/1104298096     Thu, 21 Oct 2010 05:57:00 PDT Did The FCC 'Rebroadcast Or Retransmit An Account' Of MLB Game On Twitter? Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/16582011514/did-the-fcc-rebroadcast-or-retransmit-an-account-of-mlb-game-on-twitter.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/16582011514/did-the-fcc-rebroadcast-or-retransmit-an-account-of-mlb-game-on-twitter.shtml just that NFL warning to show how the NFL was exaggerating its rights... and got a takedown notice. The MLB one is a bit different. It reads: "Any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of this game, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is prohibited." We wrote about that one because one guy asked MLB for permission to describe a game to his friend, and MLB wouldn't give it. The FTC has been asked to stop sports leagues from making such overly broad (and legally misleading) claims, but hasn't done anything.

    I'm reminded about all of this because, as a part of the silly retransmission fight between Fox and Cablevision, where some viewers were blocked from seeing some of the MLB postseason games airing on Fox, apparently the FCC decided to make something of a statement on the issue by tweeting an ongoing account of one of the blacked out games, along with a link to its own consumer alert about the retransmission fight. Here's an example tweet from the FCC's official Twitter account:
    Matt Cain relieved after 7 strong, 2 H, 0 ER. Giants scored on two singles, throwing error. SF up 3-0 top 9
    Of course, this has some questioning whether or not the FCC just did a rebroadcast or retransmission of an account of the game without (one assumes) express written consent of Major League Baseball. Of course, MLB's random attempts to enforce its bogus claims of ownership on data have all failed, and I'm sure it knows better than to take on the FCC in a losing cause, but it does a nice job of highlighting just how ridiculous the "warning" is from the MLB, and makes you wonder why the FTC doesn't crack down on what appears to be copyfraud.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     bogus-copyright-claims http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101020/16582011514     Fri, 3 Sep 2010 17:38:34 PDT MLB Using Trademark To Decapitate Fan Promotion Of The Philly Phanatic On A Flugtag Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100903/16064610900.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100903/16064610900.shtml demand that a flugtag team from Philadelphia remove the head of the Philly Fanatic that it put on their flugtag for one of Red Bull's regular Flugtag competitions. MLB's defense, I'm sure, is that it has to enforce the trademark and make sure no one else is using it without a license. But that's just silly. First of all, there's only a trademark offense when it's a use in commerce, and a silly competition based on trying to launch homemade, human-powered flying machines that cannot fly, is not quite a use in commerce. But, more to the point, these are fans of the team trying to promote the team and promote their fandom. And MLB is shutting them down. That's not particularly fan friendly. And so, instead of the Philly Phanatic on a Flugtag, it'll be decapitated by a silly trademark claim.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     say-that-five-times-fast http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100903/16064610900     Fri, 4 Jun 2010 18:50:00 PDT MLB Looks To Sue Annoying Commenters Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100604/1305079693.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100604/1305079693.shtml try to get the identity of some commenters on its website who have been posting comments that are:
    "threatening, abusive, obscene, vulgar, demeaning, offensive, pornographic, profane, sexually explicit, indecent and inappropriate"
    Of course, that probably describes a rather large percentage of comments on some websites these days. Apparently MLB tried to deal with it internally, but failed in blocking those users. So rather than amp up its technical skills, MLB is going to court to demand that ISPs identify who it is that's been posting these comments, so that it can "pursue appropriate action."

    In a world where we're seeing people charged with being jerks online, it seems like we're entering a dangerous world, with massive chilling effects on free speech. Obviously, being a jerk, and posting inappropriate material is annoying -- and MLB has every right to set up technological or moderation measures to deal with it. But potentially suing those individuals seems to cross a dangerous line.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     winning-fans http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100604/1305079693     Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:42:07 PDT MLB Backs Down When Someone It Bullies Explains Fair Use To Them Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080922/2002012337.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080922/2002012337.shtml years now, Major League Baseball's online division, MLB.com, has been over aggressive in claiming ownership and control over anything associated with Major League Baseball -- even though court after court has told them they don't get to control everything. However, MLB just keeps on claiming ownership of things anyway, such as sending out various DMCA takedown notices to YouTube for any clip of baseball put up by anyone else. Larry Lessig has the story, though, of one fan who fought back and filed a detailed counterclaim about how his video was fair use and MLB was repeatedly abusing its power in damaging ways. Amazingly, not only did MLB relent, it featured the video it had just demanded get taken down on its own blog. To be honest, there's a chance that the two things are unrelated, and the blogger had no idea that the parent company's lawyers were trying to shut down the video -- but the story is a good reminder that if someone is overreaching in their takedown attempts, it can be effective to respond with a counternotice that clearly states the issues.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     well,-that's-better-than-the-alternative http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080922/2002012337     Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:11:00 PDT CBS Goes To Court To Let The NFL Know That You Can't Copyright Player Stats Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080909/0413172215.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080909/0413172215.shtml level and an eventual appeal to the Supreme Court was turned down. However, it appears that the National Football League wanted to ignore these rulings, and has still been trying to get fantasy sports sites to pony up to use stats and player info -- despite the fact that you cannot copyright facts. CBS is now challenging the NFL on this, and has gone to court to get a declaratory judgment that it doesn't need a license. It's difficult to see this case turning out any differently than the MLB cases, considering the facts of the case are almost identical.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     and-it's-correct http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080909/0413172215     Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:18:09 PDT MLB Threatens Guy Who Made A Cool iPhone App For Baseball Fans Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080718/1259201726.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080718/1259201726.shtml Major League Baseball. MLB wants people to think that it owns absolutely everything having to do with baseball, even though the courts have shot it down repeatedly. Even when it may be legally correct, its moves tend to do more to harm the game than to help it. It's as if MLB wants to keep shooting itself in the foot. The latest example was sent in by William Jackson, who points out that MLB is threatening the guy who made a neat Baseball app for the iPhone.

    MLB has its own baseball app for the iPhone, which costs $5, that shows scores and highlights -- but this free app doesn't compete with that one. Instead, it's basically a baseball encyclopedia, allowing fans to look up all sorts of interesting historical stats and information. In other words, it's the sort of thing that helps fans feel even more connected to the game. So what does MLB do? It complains that the guy has the actual logos of Major League teams in the app. MLB argues that this is trademark infringement, but that's questionable. This is helping to promote those major league teams, not harm or dilute their brand in any way.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     there's-thick-headed-and-then-there's-mlb http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080718/1259201726     Mon, 2 Jun 2008 17:56:10 PDT Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Baseball Appeal; MLB Still Doesn't Get To Own Facts Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080602/1216571291.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080602/1216571291.shtml not to take up Major League Baseball's appeal over the question of whether it gets to "own" player names and stats. As you may recall, Major League Baseball had created a lucrative side business for itself "licensing" out player names and stats to fantasy baseball providers. This actually made them quite a bit of money, until one of those fantasy baseball companies put two and two together and realized that player names and statistics are public information and not subject to copyright (you can't copyright "facts"). MLB flipped out at the possibility of losing this revenue stream and sued, claiming ownership of all game data.

    As MLB realized that claiming ownership of game data was never going to cut it in court, it changed the story somewhat, saying that it was really about the players' right of publicity, which also (somehow) included owning their stats. A district court quickly saw through this argument and told MLB that it had no case. Rather than admitting defeat (and recognizing that more widespread use of baseball info should bring more fans into the game), MLB appealed. The appeals court wasted little time in again telling MLB it had no case. But those folks at MLB are nothing if not stubborn. So, they asked the full appeals court to rehear the case and were turned down

    So, again, rather than recognizing that perhaps all of these courts (and common sense) had a point, MLB appealed to the Supreme Court, who (as noted) turned them down. If you're keeping score at home (and, we're not claiming ownership of the score), that now makes 4 - 0 for the courts over MLB, and I think we've pretty much hit the 9th inning, as there are no more appeals. The only thing MLB can hope for now is for a different circuit to somehow (unlikely) come to a different conclusion and the Supreme Court to revisit the issue. But that seems about as likely as, say, the Seattle Mariners somehow coming back to win the World Series this year. Stranger things have happened, but not very often.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     good-news http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080602/1216571291     Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:34:00 PDT Media Companies Consider Suing MLB Over Reporting Restrictions Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080421/021450902.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080421/021450902.shtml Major League Baseball and the National Football League have convinced the press to live with restrictions on how they can report on games online. For rather obvious reasons, this seems troubling. While both are private organizations that can set up the terms by which they hand out press passes, you would think that the media, with its strong belief in a free press, would refuse to go along with any restrictions. The NY Times is now looking into the issue, noting that a big part of the problem is still that the leagues somehow think they "own" sports content. It also points out that part of the problem was in thinking that "video" is only done by television networks who pay tremendous sums for exclusive rights. So the leagues are afraid that reporters with camera phones will put those huge contracts in jeopardy.

    However, hidden down towards the end of the article is one interesting tidbit. A bunch of big media companies are actively doing legal research in preparation for bringing these restrictions into court. Specifically, they're interested in targeting Major League Baseball -- which has a special exemption from antitrust law from Congress. The media companies may use these restrictions to suggest that MLB is abusing that right. While it would definitely make for an interesting lawsuit, it's still difficult to see how the activities are, by themselves, illegal. The team gets to decide who it gives out press passes too -- and that's where the restrictions come from. If the media refused to take press passes and reported on the team in other ways (including buying tickets to the game for reporters) then it could report however it wanted -- just with a lot less access. But if all the major media started boycotting the terms of access this way, you can bet that MLB and the NFL would back down quickly.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     careful-with-that-antitrust-exemption http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080421/021450902     Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:14:00 PDT Why Should Newspapers Agree To MLB's Rules On How They Can Report On Baseball Online? Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080409/175754805.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080409/175754805.shtml restrictions concerning how reporters could report on baseball online. This included things like only very short video clips could be posted online, no more than 7 photos, and all non-text content had to be removed in 72-hours. If that all sounds like preventing reporters from doing their job, you'd be correct. As I suggested at the time, the answer should be for newspapers to simply ignore the rules and if MLB pulls their press passes to buy their reporters tickets to the games (rather than using press passes) or see how the teams feel without press coverage. While it appears that newspapers certainly were upset about these restrictions, rather than doing anything serious about it, they've apparently negotiated a "compromise." The compromise allows newspapers to now host more video and audio content than the original restrictions, but everything still needs to be removed within 72-hours unless there's a special exemption.

    This is, of course, absolutely ridiculous. While it's perfectly legal (reporters don't need to get press passes, so the team can restrict them), it sets a tremendously bad precedent that journalists are allowing any outside control over how they can report on a game. This is all stemming from MLB's incorrect belief that it "owns" everything having to do with Major League Baseball -- and then wanting to artificially limit it so it can sell it to fans. Note that we're not just talking about actual game data here -- but interviews with the players that are conducted by the journalists. There's simply no legitimate reason why newspapers should allow MLB to dictate what it can do with that content or how it can report on it. All that this will do is serve to limit the kind of innovative reporting and community building that the MLB should be encouraging. It's a top down approach by an organization who thinks that only it can decide how people get access to news and info about the game. But it's going to stop newspapers from putting in place their own, perhaps more useful, services for fans, and that will only serve to limit the fanbase. It's upsetting that MLB would even try to do this and it's a travesty that newspapers acquiesced, even to the supposed "compromise" solution. It's opening the door to the MLB telling them what they can report on and any newspaper person should know better.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     no-need-to-compromise http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080409/175754805     Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:59:00 PDT Major League Baseball Bullying Amateur Baseball In Trademark Shakedown Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080312/013742509.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080312/013742509.shtml years, it's been fighting a losing battle over the obviously false idea that it "owns" the stats and game descriptions of all major league games. Earlier this year, it began putting restrictions on how reporters could report on games. Reader Chris alerts us to its latest bullying effort, as it appears MLB still believes that it's free to control just about anything that even touches Major League Baseball. The Cape Cod Baseball League is basically the premiere showcase of amateur baseball talent each summer. It's where many of the best college players go to play to show off for scouts from major league teams -- but it's still an amateur event. Major League Baseball has donated about $100,000 to the Cape Cod League each year, but that's only a small percent of the league's $1.5 to $2 million operating budget (which itself is small, since much of the league is run by volunteers donating their time).

    Yet, somehow, MLB thinks it owns the rights to things in the Cape Cod League and is demanding that the six (out of 10) teams in the league that use the names of Major League teams license the names -- including buying all uniforms and merchandise through MLB itself, rather than the local vendors who have always supplied the league. Even worse, those local vendors who normally sold the uniforms and merchandise to the league were big sponsors of the league. Cutting them off may mean lost sponsorship as well. Clearly, MLB now thinks that it has total control over any team that has a name similar to Major League team, despite the fact that no one is going to confuse the Chatham A's with the Oakland A's or the Harwich Mariners with the Seattle Mariners. This would appear to be yet another abuse of trademark, and hopefully the Cape Cod League finds a lawyer who can explain to Major League Baseball the moron in a hurry test to prove that there's no trademark violation. Hell, perhaps the moron in a hurry can be a pinch runner for one of the teams. I hear he's fast...

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     ip-abuse-is-a-gateway-crime http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080312/013742509     Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:38:13 PST MLB Follows NFL In Restricting How Reporters Can Report On Games Online Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080226/152535364.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080226/152535364.shtml Brian writes in to let us know that Major League Baseball seems to be following the NFL's rules on how reporters are allowed to report on games. In the MLB's case, reporters can only post short video clips, can't post more than 7 photos per game and all non-text content must be removed after 72 hours. It's fairly amazing that news organizations agree to put up with these restrictions. The fact that news organizations caved into the NFL is what has allowed MLB to go down a similar path. Again, MLB has every right to set the terms by which it gives out press passes, but news organizations should push back against these policies, potentially buying tickets themselves, rather than getting team-approved press passes. It's also not at all clear why a news report shouldn't be allowed to post as many photos as they want on their site, or why they shouldn't be able to leave them online for more than a few days.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     who-puts-up-with-this-stuff? http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080226/152535364     Wed, 7 Nov 2007 13:09:00 PST MLB's Latest Efforts To Screw Fans: All That Content You Bought? Gone, Thanks To DRM Change Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071107/115800.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071107/115800.shtml owns facts, to deleting fan websites, to trying to stop fans from using a Sling Box to watch games, to the ridiculous blackout policies that stop fans from watching games, to the decision last year to prevent certain TV providers from showing Major League Baseball, it just seems like the sports actively tries to antagonize some of its biggest fans. The latest may be the most ridiculous. MLB.com was certainly a pioneer in offering video online, including the ability to purchase and download videos of games. Like so many content companies, MLB.com falsely believed that it needed to wrap the content in copy protection software. However, as read tijir alerts us to, the DRM that MLB chose involved having the content always check in with an MLB.com server to make sure it could be played. That's just dandy... until MLB.com changes its DRM provider and takes down the old authorization server. At that point all of the content everyone had purchased becomes totally useless. True to its fan-unfriendly nature, MLB.com's response has basically been "tough cookies." Specifically, a representative from MLB.com claims that since the products were "one-time sales" there are no refunds. Of course, if they were one-time sales... then why do they need to get approval from MLB.com every time they want to play? They're clearly not one-time sales. The sale was for a service -- which included regular authorization to play the content. MLB has now failed to live up to their end of the deal and should provide at least some kind of refund.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     swing-and-a-miss http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20071107/115800     Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:44:42 PDT Once Again (With Feeling!): Court Tells Major League Baseball It Does Not Own Facts Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071016/143318.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071016/143318.shtml ownership of facts -- even though facts cannot be covered by copyright. This resulted in a lawsuit over whether or not companies that provide fantasy baseball services online needed to pay MLB for a license to use player's names and stats. While such licenses have been very lucrative for MLB over the years, one popular fantasy baseball company, CBC, decided to stop paying the license and keep offering the service -- which resulted in the lawsuit. It didn't take long for the courts to tell MLB that it doesn't own facts and anyone is free to use stats and player names. Of course, rather than realizing that fantasy baseball helps promote the real thing, bringing in a lot more money to the league, MLB could only focus on the short term licenses it was about to lose, and appealed. This was a waste of everyone's time, because the law is quite clear and an appeals court has now ruled (again) that Major League Baseball does not own the names and data associated with the game and anyone is free to use that factual information for other things, such as fantasy baseball games. It's highly likely that the folks at MLB will appeal again, though it's equally likely that they'll get smacked down again. MLB had shifted strategies as these cases wore on, trying to get away from focusing on ownership of facts and claiming it was more about the "right to publicity," but the appeals court ruled that a right to publicity does not trump the First Amendment.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     real-names,-here-we-go... http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20071016/143318     Mon, 1 Oct 2007 10:22:41 PDT NHL Sued For Trying To Take Over Team's Website Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070930/202500.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070930/202500.shtml overboard in claiming control over certain content, its online efforts have been quite a success. There was a rumored (and later scrapped) IPO plan -- but the company is apparently still doing amazingly well, with talk of it being valued somewhere around $5 billion. Already, MLBAM has tried to expand its coverage by running websites for other sports and even musicians.

    All of that success apparently caught the attention of the National Hockey League, who had apparently let teams run their own damn sites for a while. However, it recently decided to bring them all in house -- but teams aren't thrilled with the idea. In fact, the NY Rangers are now suing the NHL for antitrust violations in trying to take over their site. The Rangers claim that the site is an important part of their team's marketing efforts and it acts as a competitive differentiator. They're also not happy that they've spent all this time building up traffic only to turn it over to the NHL. There are a few important differences with the NHL's plan compared to the MLB's. First, MLB took over all team sites years ago, before web sites were so important. These days, most teams recognize how valuable those sites are and have already built up a ton of traffic. Much more importantly, Major League Baseball has a special antitrust exemption that no other sports have. So, even if a baseball team had wanted to charge MLB with antitrust violations, it would have been difficult given the exemption. Since the NHL doesn't have that exemption, it's going to have to put up a fight to get the Rangers to hand over their website.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     fight!-fight!-fight! http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20070930/202500     Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:36:15 PDT Major League Baseball Deletes Popular MySpace Page For Using Cubs Logo Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070824/015037.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070824/015037.shtml owns facts, despite court after court explaining that facts aren't copyrightable. MLB also seems confused about copyright law when it comes to the legality of placeshifting. In the past, MLB also freaked out about fan websites potentially violating trademarks -- but that was a long time ago. Or so we thought. Apparently the fun lawyers at MLB shut down an immensely popular MySpace page for Chicago Cubs fans that was linked to a fan website called Cubbies Baseball. That fan website actually has a license to use the official Chicago Cubs logo, but MLB claims that the license didn't extend to MySpace as well -- just the Cubbies Baseball site. King Kaufman, the sports writer at Salon, blames MLB for not asking the owner of the site to remove the logo -- but puts more blame on MySpace for simply shutting down the site the second MLB complained, without giving any warning. He seems to think MLB isn't totally in the wrong in demanding the logo be removed, but again that's not necessarily true. If the site was clear that it was a fan site and had no official endorsement or association with the Cubs, it should be fair use to use the logo. MLB trots out the tired explanation that it has to defend its trademarks or risk losing them, but that's not so in a case where there's an obvious fair use exception. Either way, from a common sense standpoint, it's ridiculous for MySpace and MLB to shut down a vibrant fan community -- and it's made worse when you realize that the use of the logo probably isn't even a real violation of trademark law.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     how-many-fans-can-we-alienate-this-week? http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20070824/015037     Wed, 1 Aug 2007 09:33:58 PDT FTC Asked To Stop Bogus Copyright Warnings In Sports Broadcasts Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070801/011957.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070801/011957.shtml received a DMCA takedown notice from the NFL for posting a short clip to YouTube of the part during the Super Bowl where the announcers state the famous warning that often reads something like "Any rebroadcast, reproduction or other use of the pictures, accounts or descriptions of this game without the express written consent of Big Sports League, is prohibited." What got lost in the Seltzer story over whether or not posting that particular clip to YouTube was legal, was that her point in using it was to show how sports leagues were making claims to rights that copyright didn't actually give them. It appears that enough others have noticed this as well that a trade group, backed by various big name tech companies, is now asking the Federal Trade Commission to prevent broadcasters from making such "deceptive" copyright statements. The group is claiming that this incorrect statement that clearly reaches beyond the rights copyright provides, is harmful to consumers and technology companies. Of course, in the sports leagues' (and other content companies') defense, it appears that plenty of people ignore the bogus copyright warning anyway.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
    ]]>     stop-the-copyright-abuse http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20070801/011957