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[Sakara=Excitement]

The UFC Should Sue for Piracy but What They Really Need Is an MMA*iTunes - Bloody Elbow

The bloodshed has begun:
UFC has accused a Massachusetts bar of showing UFC 104 without coughing up a licensing fee, the Boston Herald reports. According to the newspaper, UFC seeks an award of $640,000 plus legal costs.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday targets an Allston, Mass. bar called The Draft, along with owner Derek Brady. A UFC lawyer cited an eyewitness who claimed the bar showed the promotion's Oct. 24 pay-per-view broadcast by using a laptop computer hooked up to a TV.

I absolutely support the UFC's efforts here. Theft is theft and never acceptable. However, if they believe intimidating lawsuits will end this madness they're absolutely dreaming.

What they ultimately have to provide - in addition to the heavy-handed approach of litigation - is an online portal or interface where fights can be affordably purchased, either individually or collectively. What saved the music industry from piracy was less about Metallica's efforts to crush Napster and more about the industry collectively getting behind iTunes. The Apple software application provided a mechanism for the fans to cheaply obtain their favorite songs under a single platform that made downloading, sorting and organizing easy. More importantly, iTunes (unlike mp3.com or other competitors) was the first and only platform that had the full support of the music industry. That was the real game changer.

The UFC has to create something similar. As it stands, their software on their site is clumsy and difficult to navigate. It only works with certain browsers and even then is not guaranteed to function properly. One also can't get other fights from rival leagues, although the combination of WEC, UFC and PRIDE (maybe WFA or IFL, too?) isn't such a bad combination.

The UFC's PPV stream on Yahoo is ok, but at the same price as regular television pay-per-view it's essentially no alternative at all. Online has to be tantamount to cheaper, at least right now.

I say to the UFC: sue and sue as much as you like. But you won't win the battle without offering MMA fans an online alternative similarly to how iTunes offered music fans a legal, safe method to online downloading.

[Y2JUBAE]

They may win and get a judgment but it doesn't mean they will see a dime of it lol.

[willpunisher]

only way they can stop mma piracy is by getting a tv deal. fox, abc or cw.
i have a quote that i always follow. "why pay for it if you can get it or do it for free?"

[sikk]

I still don't really know how PPV expects 50+ dollars to watch the event. Also going after small bar's is pretty low. You go after the source, not the people using the source. Unfortunately most of these sources are either untraceable or hosted in countries that have no piracy laws. This is the main reason people can pretty much get anything on the internet for free, if it's digital of course, and will continue to do so. The UFC's best bet is a TV deal because there is NO way they will stop the internet "Joe Rogan" lol. I do agree with a cheaper alternative however. If done correctly it could be a profitable solution until they do ink a TV deal.

[Pasha K]

Maybe they should make the PPVs for 25 dollars or somthing like that, 50 is too much for the shows they do. Or continue to make it for 50 dollars but improve a lot the shows.

I completeley agree with you willpunisher, why I should pay for something that I can get for free?

[T3ST1CL3]

I would love ufc on itunes. As it is I watch a lot of past fights on the internet as it's quicker than searching through dvds.

[Ramma]

Doesn't the UFC already have fights for downloading on their website? Like $1.99 per fight. Or is it like a 1 time/view download for the charge?

[lwbrewer]

Originally Posted by sikk

I still don't really know how PPV expects 50+ dollars to watch the event. Also going after small bar's is pretty low. You go after the source, not the people using the source. Unfortunately most of these sources are either untraceable or hosted in countries that have no piracy laws. This is the main reason people can pretty much get anything on the internet for free, if it's digital of course, and will continue to do so. The UFC's best bet is a TV deal because there is NO way they will stop the internet "Joe Rogan" lol. I do agree with a cheaper alternative however. If done correctly it could be a profitable solution until they do ink a TV deal.

I believe they are and let me assume they ordered/payed for the show on their PC and then hooked the PC to the bars TV. Thats the issue that purchase was not for commerical use as the price is a lot higher.
I agree with the first post make it easy and affordable will do more then law suits

[thefirm0]

if the ufc wants to maximize their buys they need to drop their price for a ppv. 50 dollars plus tax is fucking crazy, that basically doubles your cable bill right there. i'm not saying i don't order them, but if i feel like the card is sub par and not a lot of people are down to watch it i'm obviously going to stream it.

they are doing a really good job of shutting down streams though, every time i try i have to switch between 4 or 5 links before the event is done. but i still always manage to watch every fight.

what's better 10 people paying 50 dollars for an event or 25 paying 30?

[kickass32]

They definatley need to lower the price...$50.00 per PPV is ridiculous. I used to order every PPV (unless I was away) when it was 39.99. Now that it is 49.99 (higher if you order in HD) I only order about 3-4 a year.