Foxtel accepts apology for illegal live streaming of boxing match
Foxtel has announced it will not be taking legal action regarding the illegal live Facebook streaming of its Main Event boxing match between Anthony Mundine and Danny Green, stating it has accepted a public apology from the offenders responsible.
The broadcast company asked Brett Hevers -whose stream reached 153,000 viewers before his PPV subscription was cut off by Foxtel – and Darren Sharpe to issue a formal apology on their personal Facebook pages for live-streaming the match between Anthony Mundine and Danny Green.
Thousands of viewers avoided Foxtel’s pay per view broadcast of the rematch earlier this month as it was live streamed though the social media site, with Foxtel threatening to sue the users behind the streams.
Peter Tonagh, Foxtel CEO, said in a statement: “Rather than taking legal action, we decided to take the opportunity to educate both of them about the significant harm such actions bring to the production of local Australian content, including live sports.
“We have given the individuals the opportunity to formally apologise via a public social media post, acknowledging the gravity of the situation, in the hopes that more people will learn that copyright theft is not a victimless crime and something that should be taken very seriously.
“We are pleased that both Mr. Sharpe and Mr. Hevers have taken us up on the opportunity and have published an apology and acknowledgment of wrongdoing on their Facebook pages.”
Tonagh said sports fans will suffer from the illegal activity if revenue opportunities are undermined in the future, as sports presenters and promoters will have trouble affording the events.
“Illegal streaming and file sharing of any kind impacts the viability of the entire content industry, and threatens the livelihoods of the thousands of people employed by it, including athletes, actors, technicians, editors, caterers, set designers and many others,” he said.
Hah.
You have already robbed people of watching sport by charging an arm and a leg just to watch said sports. At the end of the day, your product is only worth what people will be prepared to pay.
Now, when the hell will you do sports fans a favour and show all sport in HD regardless of access point?
Foxtel go/play is embarrassing, the quality is no better than an illegal stream found elsewhere.
Go look at how American sports do it with a season pass, HD and content galore.
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