Please, don't cross the streams

by Silver Seven Staff on Jan 19, 2012 7:00 AM EST

Things around these parts have to change, my friends, and we're as disappointed about it as you are.

Due to legal concerns, Silver Seven will henceforth not allow the exchanging of hyperlinks to pirated streaming webcasts of sporting events, notably Ottawa Senators games. Although we had, in the past, allowed these links to be distributed in our GameDay Threads, we simply can't allow it any more.

These online streams were useful for many fans on Silver Seven, particularly given the regional nature of many Senators broadcasts, and the visitors we regularly see from well outside the Sens' territory. It's unfortunate that legal realities will serve to punish mostly the most dedicated Sens fans trying to get whatever glimpse of their team possible. On the other hand, these streams will still exist on the Internet; each individual will now have to hunt them down themselves, though.

We'll be adding this new guideline to our Community Standards, and for the next couple of weeks, we'll be reminding those of you joining us in the GDTs of the change.

Thanks for your understanding. If you have any questions about the change, feel free to ask in the comments.

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Will asking for these links also be disallowed? Over at Canal Street Chronicles, we stopped posting links and instead, if you wanted a link, you would post your e-mail and someone would send the link to your e-mail.

Just a thought.

Mark Ingram-OROY
Cam Jordan-DROY
New Orleans Saints-2012 Super Bowl Champs
TOP IS GAWD!

by Alex Swift on Jan 19, 2012 7:42 AM EST reply actions

You can't ask for links to be posted, no

If you want to e-mail someone about how they’re watching the game, though, you’re more than welcome. Any exchanging of links to illegal streams can’t be mediated on this site, but you’re welcome to exchange e-mail addresses.

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by Peter Raaymakers on Jan 19, 2012 8:11 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Just resort to what I do for most sports. Go to http://search.twitter.com, type in Team Name + stream and usually you’ll find what you’re looking for.

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia
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by modsuperstar on Jan 19, 2012 9:09 AM EST up reply actions

Luckily for me...

The stream addresses are locked in the vault of my mind.

Here’s an idea… maybe if teams would allow fans in their area to simply watch and cheer for other teams in the league (and therefore drop these stupid blackouts) then illegal streams would be unnecessary and irrelevant. I pay good money for all these sports channels, and for the most part, they play stupid shit every night (seriously… darts, bowling and f’ing poker?) but on the nights when they play Sens games, I can’t watch them.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not upset at this new rule – it makes sense to me – I’m just upset that people have to ask for streams in the first place.

Looks like I’ll have to move back to Ottawa!

ALFIE! ALFIE! ALFIE!

by BigSlice on Jan 19, 2012 8:53 AM EST reply actions

I do find that the irony of it. I’d be more than willing to pay $50 a year to directly access Sens games online. I’ve watched some sketchy streams in my day and would love to enjoy nice quality from time to time.

It truly is the old media rules getting in the way of progress. They have all these broadcast contracts that inhibit new means of accessing content. The reason they won’t do it is the same reason they don’t want to do a-la-carte channel picking. The popular teams would generate the most money and would want their slice of the pie, whereas offering all the games to everyone hides the fact that small market clubs don’t pull their weight in these packages. Do you think there would be big demand for a Panthers, Coyotes or Blue Jackets a-la-carte package?

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia
Follow @modsuperstar

by modsuperstar on Jan 19, 2012 9:06 AM EST up reply actions

I'd be willing to bet that there were enough fans of every team to make every team profitable for $50 a year

I don’t understand why teams don’t simply do this on their own. Offer the stream on the Internet, make it clear that you’ll black it out by IP if the game is broadcast in your region, aggressively pursue illegal streams, and negotiate a profit-sharing model with the networks.

I would gladly pay $50 to watch Sens games without stream hunting.

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by Mark Parisi on Jan 19, 2012 9:34 AM EST up reply actions

The funny thing is....

There are two teams that do that – for in market fans only to protect Center Ice/Gamecenter Live.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 9:58 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah but why do that, when they can make me pay $200? They also don’t want to lower the quality of their product.

NHL Centre Ice is great value if you like more than Sens hockey. But if given the option, I would probably just pay $50 for Sens games I suppose.

I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.

Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan

by Adnan on Jan 19, 2012 10:04 AM EST up reply actions

That's their line of thinking

Another line of thinking is that they might get a lot more customers at $50 than they do at $120 for just GCL or $200 for Centre Ice.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 10:07 AM EST up reply actions

Game Centre is more than that, $170 or $180 I think. The good thing about getting Centre Ice with Bell is that you get game centre added for free.

But do you think they will get 4 times as many customer to make up the 200-50 difference?

I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.

Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan

by Adnan on Jan 19, 2012 10:09 AM EST up reply actions

I don't know for sure, but I certainly think it's possible

But that’s what market research is for.

And a bit of research turned up the full season price for GCL this year at $159 USD.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 10:21 AM EST up reply actions

Oh, well there you go then.

I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.

Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan

by Adnan on Jan 19, 2012 10:22 AM EST up reply actions

It may be that much in Canada

As that source also put Center Ice at just over $170 USD.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 10:30 AM EST up reply actions

+ taxes

So closer to $200?

by The Tif on Jan 19, 2012 10:47 AM EST up reply actions

Plus exchange rates, plus the "Screw Canadian consumers" fee, plus the "getting it from a Canadian BDU" fee.....

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 11:31 AM EST up reply actions

This is what I paid for Center Ice this year, about $170

That was the early-bird discount price and they spread it out over four months, so it’s not a big hit on the bill all at once.

Center Ice has gotten better this year as most games are available in HD, whereas last year only one game a night was shown in HD. I also pay about $5 a month for some Sportspak that includes NHLN, so I’ve been able to watch all the games so far this year.

by BorisB on Jan 19, 2012 11:02 AM EST up reply actions

Exactly

Though they’ve probably done the profit curve and determined that they make more money at $200 than $50 based on the number of willing subscribers at each price point. I’m sure they didn’t determine the cost arbitrarily.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Jan 19, 2012 10:10 AM EST up reply actions

The thing is - when?

If it was a few years ago, the landscape may have changed drastically.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 10:32 AM EST up reply actions

Plus

There is always the possibility that they never even considered single-team packages, and only did the profit curve based on full-league costs.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 10:33 AM EST up reply actions

I'd like to imagine they did a full-scale analysis

But they probably just did a cash grab.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Jan 19, 2012 10:42 AM EST up reply actions

I'd like to think that too

But it was likely “What can we charge for putting Center Ice online?” and not even thinking about different models.

by B_T on Jan 19, 2012 11:32 AM EST up reply actions

I’ll relate this back to iPhone app sales. I’ve seen this published that a developer that creates a $4 app will make the same amount of money as if they sold it at $.99. There are 4 times as many people who will buy the app at the lower price point then will spend at the higher, so it becomes moot. So really then you ask, would I rather have more potential customers and their billing information for possible future upsells, or would you like to charge more and have fewer total customers?

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia
Follow @modsuperstar

by modsuperstar on Jan 19, 2012 12:10 PM EST up reply actions

Well, my thinking is that as an owner, I'd rather negotitate my own profit deals with companies than rely on the league

Jerry Jones does this in the NFL.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Jan 19, 2012 10:15 AM EST up reply actions

Really? Doesn’t the NFL have shared TV revenue? That’s how Packers and such survive?

I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.

Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan

by Adnan on Jan 19, 2012 10:18 AM EST up reply actions

TV revenue is more muddy

I know all NFL teams share it, but the league has shared revenue agreements with things like vendors as well, and Jones ignored them to sign his own deals. The league sued him for it in 1995.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Jan 19, 2012 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

Definitely.

by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 19, 2012 10:42 AM EST up reply actions

The problem with that is that it totally burns people who out of the cable/satellite system. I haven’t subscribed to cable in 3+ years now and do most of my viewing online. I wanted to buy the MLB package because baseball is really restricted online and hard to find streams of the Blue Jays. I downloaded the iPad app for $10 which also came with a free month to start the season. Turned out since I live in the Toronto broadcast region(meaning Canada), I couldn’t watch games because they were broadcast in my region. So even though I didn’t subscribe to cable and wanted to plunk down money to watch my local team, I still couldn’t. The system is broken.

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia
Follow @modsuperstar

by modsuperstar on Jan 19, 2012 12:06 PM EST up reply actions

That's fair

I’ve usually appreciated the stream links, being a Sens Fan in Toronto, but I appreciate the bind it puts you in. I can always use, y’know, Google or something.

by spez_dispenser on Jan 19, 2012 9:10 AM EST reply actions

that's exactly the position I'm in...

I can really only watch Sens’ games on TV when they’re playing the Leafs. OR, en francais on RDS, or when they play a Saturday night game on CBC, but our team doesn’t deserve the HD broadcast, apparently.

Every other game is blacked out…

ALFIE! ALFIE! ALFIE!

by BigSlice on Jan 19, 2012 9:12 AM EST up reply actions

I'm sorry to hear that guys.

But I understand why it’s necessary. Like Modsuperstar said above – it could be completely negated if I could just buy a ticket to watch Sens games online. I don’t want to pay the $200 for Center Ice, and then miss most of the games because of blackouts on top of that. It’s stupid, and can be avoided, but there’s no way the guys on top understand that.

by The Tif on Jan 19, 2012 9:30 AM EST reply actions

Has anybody else realized

That if Boston loses tonight, and we win, we jump to second place in the East?

Mark Ingram-OROY
Cam Jordan-DROY
New Orleans Saints-2012 Super Bowl Champs
TOP IS GAWD!

by Alex Swift on Jan 19, 2012 9:38 AM EST reply actions

don't jinx!

by spezzasbrother on Jan 19, 2012 9:48 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

the best thing to do is...

a quick google search. oh, wait… can I say google? (0_o) and search for “50 similar sites like myp2p”

by spezzasbrother on Jan 19, 2012 9:48 AM EST via mobile reply actions

What's the driver for this?

The SCC hyperlinking case (Crookes v. Newton, 2011 SCC 47) absolves a host from defamation liability when the host posts links to defamatory websites and stated that a hyperlink does not communicate its content (cf. para 30).

Of course, this ruling would have no effect on the US where SB Nation is likely based. Perhaps its a SOPA thing?

by StraightFromTHM on Jan 19, 2012 12:36 PM EST reply actions

er, just to clarify

Hyperlinking in general does not communicate 3rd party content so, in Canada at least, you aren’t violating any statute by hyperlinking to copyrighted material. Not sure about the US.

by StraightFromTHM on Jan 19, 2012 12:39 PM EST up reply actions