Comments on: MLB Takes a Swing at Sling

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 21:51:48 +0000

I personally have a slingbox and use it when I travel to watch my bought-and-paid-for cable content. Sitting in a hotel room in Europe, you quickly get tired of CNN and BBC, why can't I watch the cable shows that I paid for on my home cable box which would sit idle otherwise? And why would anyone want to stop me..I watch the ads and might buy something when I get back home. Saying that the content owner gets to decide where you use it is absurd. If I bring a magazine with me on a trip, does Time Magazine charge me more for reading the magazine overseas where prices are normally higher? BTW, Slingbox rocks - get one!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 19:39:35 +0000

It is not suprising that MLB is attempting to control the way in which their product gets delivered. One cannot listen to the Blue Jays on the internet stream of the local sports radio station, the Fan590, even though this was possible just a year or two ago. Instead, one has to subscribe to ALL the radio feeds from ALL the Major League teams for a monthyl fee through MLB.com. It will be interesting to see what happens in the case of the Slingbox as other, more powerful, content providers embrace DRM to not only control the way in which their content is consumed, but also to track WHO is breaking the rules. The debate over the privacy implications of DRM are picking up steam, boosted by the much publicized Sony rootkit case from last year. For anyone interested in the debate, look up The Identity Project at http://www.anonequity.org.
Great Blog Mark!
Vava

By: Rob Hyndman

Rob Hyndman — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:34:53 +0000

The Sony Betamax case stands broadly for the proposition that the user has the right to decide when to watch. Slingbox stands for the proposition that the user has the right to decide where to watch. What's the difference? How is the broadcaster affected any differently than by someone who records and takes the media to another location?
Here's an idea. Have the local cable station refund to the Slingbox owner some $ for shows watched via the Slingbox, and that money can be paid to the foreign cable station.
Rule #1 - don't put lawyers in charge of the business model.
Rule #2 - wake up and smell the future.

By: Joshua Fattore

Joshua Fattore — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 21:32:43 +0000

Interesting thoughts. It's true that they care about the eyeballs watching the shows, but also where and WHEN. The globe has an interesting article that talks about this today
Looks like Canada is going to start including DVR in its audience ratings next fall.. what about the slingbox audience, whole new ballgame

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:36:01 +0000

This is unbelievable. Let's see you live alone in Toronto and travel a lot on business. You pay $100 a month for cable or sat. You are spending the week in Chicago on business. Shouldn't you be able to watch Blue Jays games with Slingbox or Orb from your hotel in Chicago? How is MLB or the Jays losing? They are getting their cut of the action as you are paying to subscribe to RSN or TSN. You are also paying (indirectly) for cable in your hotel room to watch the Cubs or ChiSox which you don't care about. You couldn't even subscribe to a premium baseball package (i.e the MLB equivalent of NFL Sunday Ticket) even if you wanted to as you can't do this from a hotel.
I could see them complaining if you set up a server in Toronto that would broadcast Jays games to thousands of people across North America but that is not how Orb/Slingbox works!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:30:10 +0000

I can see what they're getting at but I think they're going at it from the wrong angle - I would push on the aspect of ensuring that one person isn't sitting at home watching while another is watching it via Slingbox. I think it's similar to the concept of how software used to be run off a network and you bought “x” licenses. You could have 20 people in your company but only 5 people could use the software at the same time. It shouldn't matter where I am as long as I don't exceed the number of “outputs” I'm authorized for.
At the end of the day MLB gets paid by networks who get paid by advertisers who pay for eyeballs. They're getting their money either way regardless of how I choose to view my programming.