IIHF World Championships: IIHF Bins Live YouTube Streams

In a shocking turn of events, the IIHF has turned around and stopped the free live broadcasts of the World Championships. The decision, is according to an IIHF statement, based on some fans in the geoblocked countries bypassing the blocking mechanism to watch the games, rather than use services provided by TV rights holders. The games will still be shown for free via YouTube, but with a 30 minute delay to the service, which negates the point of watching the games.

 

The World Championships have been a total farce from start to finish and this is the last nail in the coffin. The free YouTube streams were a step forwards in exposing the sport and the sponsors of the games to a whole new audience, whilst extending the service to those who wanted to follow their nation play, but lived in a country where there was no TV deal in place. The release by IIHF cites that “today’s step was taken to prevail illegal attempts to access the streaming countries that were geoblocked due to exclusive contracts.” I’m sorry, but bypassing a geoblock is not illegal. It may not be ethical, but it is by no stretch of imagination illegal. It’s a complete disgrace to the IIHF that they have blocked a service that was enjoyed by the fans, regardless of the fact whether some users bypassed the blocking mechanisms in place. Furthermore, I can’t believe that an organisation like the IIHF is so out of touch with the internet that they thought that a geoblock would work. What the IIHF has failed to realise is that as long as something is broadcast on to the web, whether by an “authorised” TV provider, the feed will ultimately end up in the Internet where users like myself can watch it for free. So my question is why block it on that premise? Surely the best way to tackle the issue of illegal streams is to do what the IIHF did in the first place, by offering a free, high quality stream of the games.

 

The official statement read: Bruno Marty, Excecutive Director Wintersports, said: “We deeply regret that we have to take this step, in particular for all the ice hockey followers out there who just want to enjoy the games online on YouTube. However, we currently see no other option to protect the existing media rights agreements with our broadcast partners, as some so called fans decided not to play fair and to illegally surpass existing copyright and geoblocking mechanism.”

 

I have a feeling that the geoblocking has nothing to do with the fact the games were pulled. I have a feeling that broadcasters in countries where the rights have switched hands (I’m looking at Finland here) have kicked up a fuss, because the live streams took away customers from the pay for channels. What makes the IIHF think that the users who have been watching the games via YouTube will suddenly flock to a TV provider and pay an arm and a leg for a viewing pack?

 

What’s surprising even further is that the IIHF has not even brought in an option it has hosted previous years and allow users to buy a country pass or a tournament pass to watch the games. That way users could at least still watch, what the IIHF calls legal streams, and make a profit out of it on the side. Delaying the games by 30 minutes just negates the point of watching a game! What is the point when you have an app for a phone that tells you the score. Wake the hell up IIHF.

 

Like I said these world championships have been a total farce from the start, with the ticket prices and price slashes and free ticket giveaways. All the while Rene Fasel and the organisers have talked about a great brand they have to protect, but this decision sees the IIHF take the brand and wipe its ass with it!

 

It’s completely puzzling how the KHL can show the entire regular season via YouTube, including playoffs, and have no trouble with it? How can the IIHF find this context so hard and difficult?

 

I will conclude this post on this picture as it is now more pertinent than ever (With thanks to Esko Seppanen and Urheilulehti). My parting thoughts would be to curse at the IIHF, but what’s the point?

 

IIHF World Championships: Canada Plays Hard… In Helsinki Nightlife

When Canada last won the world championship in ice hockey, I read an article where it said that Canada had turned a new leaf in its approach to the world championships. In all the hegemony, the Canadians were saying that they no longer viewed the games as a guys holiday, with a chance to play some hockey in between and that every player there was playing to make their country proud.
The same could not be said of some of the Canadian players at the 2012 team. Three days into the games and what has Canada done? Played a sluggish game against Slovakia  and then lost to the USA in overtime. Before the Slovakia game it was reported that Canada cancelled its morning skate and a short while after it emerged that the Canadian players had been sampling the wares at Henry’s Pub in Helsinki.

After the USA game reports emerged that the Canadians were parting until 3am at Circus in Helsinki. There were a few tweets that suggested that there would’ve been fisticuffs involved at the end of the night as well, but no official word on the fight have emerged.

(EDIT 11:14BST 08/05/12) There have been further updates on what has supposedly been said and I thought that I’d update the story. Getzlaf reportedly shook his fist and said “You don’t want any of this” and reportedly said that he would “knock everyone out in three minutes.” It would appear that the initial reports of the scuffle weren’t as bad as first thought, but there was some shouting. Some outlets have also reported that Getzlaf also shouted he was the captain of the Anaheim Ducks. Maybe not the smartest thing to shout at the heat of the moment, given that Finns follow the Ducks closely because of one Teemu Selanne. The original text that appeared in this blog can now be read at the bottom of the story.

IF the Canadians keep going like they are they will be one of the biggest disappointments of the games. There are two players on that roster that have looked like they actually want to be there and play for their country and that’s Jeff Skinner and John Tavares. All the Getzlaf’s, Corey Perry’s and the like are in summer holiday mode. Getzlaf even admitted that he did not play or get on the ice for a month before the tournament. Is this the type of player you want wearing the C for your team? Is this a good example of leadership? The only thing Getzlaf is capable of leading at the moment is the off ice activities for Canada. I think he picked out a few favourite joints to hang out in during the NHL opener in Helsinki.

I tweeted last night saying that Ducks should seek to trade Getzlaf. He is on the final year of his contract, but I don’t think the Ducks should commit their long term future to a player who is good when he wants to be. Getzlaf can be a great player when he wants to be, but most of the time he looks like he doesn’t want to be.

As for Canada for the rest of the tournament? You can never count them out, that’s for sure, but will all the off ice activities and enjoying a roadie with the boys lead to the teams’ demise and out of the medal games. It’s OK to party to get the game out of your system, but when you are playing for your country, make sure that you do it in the off season, not the night before the game.

 

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Original excerpt from above:

More details have emerged from the Canadian players’ night out on town. There was a bit of a scuffle at the bar when Ryan Getzlaf took exception to a group of Finnish men at the bar. There had been some back and forth verbalisation before slight pushing and shoving. Getzlaf reportedly shoke hist fist vigorously and said “Don’t make me use this, I will strike you all down.” The bouncers broke up the blossoming brawl, and moved the players out of the club, but there was more shouting outside.