The UFC announced that it had successfully taken and down and seized the records of a web site that illegally streamed two PPVs. Also, it has made good on its threat of pursuing individuals accessing these illegally streaming sites.
The UFC has seized the records of www.cagewatcher.eu and it appears that the UFC will use this information to go after its users.
Via UFC web site:
UFC has obtained details of the streaming site’s userbase, including email addresses, IP addresses, user names and information pertaining to individuals who watched pirated UFC events including UFC 169. Also recovered were chat transcripts from the website.
In related news, there has been one instance where Zuffa has successfully obtained a judgment against an individual utilizing www.greenfeedz.com, a web site that provides illegal streaming of copyrighted content. The individual did not respond to Zuffa’s lawsuit against him and a default judgment was entered in against him. The individual viewed two PPVs without paying his ISP – Time Warner. According to the legal order, he was assessed $6K in damages for copyright violations and $5,948 in attorney fees. The individual was discovered via his IP address at Time Warner. We had previously reported that the UFC had obtained Greenfeedz user information. and this may be the result.
Payout Perspective:
It should be noted that the UFC did not prevail on the merits of its lawsuit against the Greenfeedz user. It prevailed due to the individual’s failure to respond to the lawsuit. Even though the individual has a judgment against him for over $11K, it will be up to Zuffa to decide whether or not to go after him for the money. Regardless, the new information that the UFC has obtained more records from another illegal web site may give pause for those that pirate PPVs. Certainly, individuals do not want to be sued and be subject to potential fines. Will this be a deterrent for pirates? So far, it has not stopped individuals but if the UFC continues to go after end users it may deter a portion of the existing base of people accessing illegal streaming. The issue with this strategy is would suing these people alienate the fan base. Of course, the easy UFC response is that the people not paying for UFC content are not really fans.
Stupid move. This is not going to help PPV sales and it will piss off fans who may have spent money on future PPVs, live shows, merchandise, online content, etc. I feel like we’ve been here before with the music industry. Cracking down on piracy didn’t help Metallica one bit.
To say that people pirating UFC content are not UFC fans is like saying people pirating music are not music fans. Really? Only a fan would deal with the hassles and poor quality of a pirated stream. Non-fans aren’t going to bother.
I would have to disagree. If people steal UFC events. They are hurting the product. Look at it this way. Fans of sports are always judged by the commitment and sacrifice they make for the team. How many games they go to, memorabilia they have, how long they tail gate before the game. Basically how high up the team is on their priorities. Now you take the UFC pirate. They spend no money on the UFC because it isn’t a high enough priority. They likely attend no live events or buy any UfC merchendise. How can someone be a fan if everything else they spend their money on takes priority over the UFC? Not to mention the fact they are choosing a lower quality stream that often looks like crap and could go down at anytime. A fan would not risk missing the event or choose poor quality over saving a few bucks. They make cuts in other areas of life to make room for something more important if they are a fan.
Also I disagree about streamers buy the PPV. Back around 10-15 years ago I had a black market satellite dish. I got it to get every movie and channel for free. Not to steal UFC events. But those were included. So I got them for free back in the day for years. Eventually it went down and I went to paying like everyone else. Point is I would have always paid for the UFC but because I didn’t need to I didn’t. Streams take a little effort to find and keep running. The. You have to spend hours watching most of the time from a computer. So these people are interesting in seeing the fights. A large number of them would be paying for the PPV if the stream wasn’t an option.
UFC needs content to be able to command higher TV rights fees…
NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAAA Nascar, WWE can provide a ton of content on a weekly or daily basis..
As such they can command a higher TV rights fees…
The problem that the UFC is having is that in order to provide more content
the UFC needs TUF.. However, TUF as a series in general is virtually dead from a rating perspective…
And this is why the UFC won’t be able to command higher TV rights for their next deal with FOX…
And this is why the UFC will NOT be able to push their PPV onto network TV like the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Nascar and WWE.
This is why the UFC has to go after illegal streams and ignore HISTORY…DISRUPTIVE technology has changed the PPV industry. Going after pirates didn’t help the Music Industry and it isn’t going to help the UFC… Change your Business model and EVOLVE or the UFC will fade out into extinction…
Shutting down streams will not bring more PPV business to the UFC. The #1 reason people stream events is because they can’t afford to purchase the PPV. And no, friends do not want to come over and split it.
“Change your Business model and EVOLVE or the UFC will fade out into extinction…”
Yes exactly. The same people who stream PPV would watch the event if it were on cable TV in a heartbeat. The people that watch SHIT streams are actually the die-hards, on a budget.
Its a complete waste of time. The UFC can point fingers and blame everyone around them for their less then spectacular PPV sales, but they need to look in the mirror. The money it takes to pay international lawyers to go after these pirates could be better spent. No body wants their product stolen, but seriously what kind of numbers do they really think are being streamed on a lame PPV that sells 200k?
The UFC board should get those 11k$ from that guy and have a nice lunch binge-eating of caviar with the money!
On a serious note, I also wonder whether the number of viewers could be obtained from the streaming sites?
I always imagined that the UFC would tell advertisers/sponsors “Yeah, x people buy the ppv, but an additional yy people are b*tches that stream it, – but they will also see your brand. So we will charge you for x+yy contacts”
You all are just coming off as bitter thieves! You keep mentioning Metallica and the music industry. Have you forgot about iTunes? Pirating is way down in the music industry and people are paying for songs online. Not because they all wants to. But because it has been made a lot harder to steal them and get them on devices. Using the Metallica situation and acting like one failure means no one else can succeed is ignorant.
I guarantee if the UFC start busting users ass for streaming. You will see a lot less people take the chance when it will cost them out the ass and make their life hell fighting it. Also, lmao at die hard on a budget. Yeah right! I do believe a large number of these noobs will not buy the PPV if they lost the stream. BUt a good size of them would. A size big enough to make a difference to the UFC. Now whether it is worth the cost that goes into it. Only the UFC knows what they are spending and what their experts say they can expect in return.
i think its stupid to go after “pirates” for a measily 12k like what is 12k to the ufc is a waste of time and money on there part to sue anybody just shut down the sites and move on. i agree most people watch streams when they cant afford a card or they feel a card isn’t worth $60 or they dont have friends to go to a bar with or friends to split the price. its a risk buying cards sometimes you spend $60 on a card you should expect the best and i cant count the number of cards ive payed for that have left me uterly disappointed wanting my money back
UFC needs to increase the quality of their product or more people will take the risk of streaming and some people might even be in a situation like mine just recently downgraded to basic cable(no ppv acess), unemployed looking for work, still having to pay monthly bills, some people only way to watch is to stream cant penalize them by taking money they don’t have in court just take the sites down and eradicate streaming that way