Of course even with DRM your work product still gets distributed freely. DRM doesn’t stop the pirates, it just screws paying customers.

i imagine that fans who bought and downloaded games do not watch them very often and will likely get a rude surprise when they do decide to play their files/discs.

while i pursue my refund — though i would prefer that mlb restore the page and i can see the games i want to see — i hope that word gets out to other fans and then they can raise a fuss also.

(p.s. the book was about the 1918 red sox, not only babe!)

IANAL but I suspect using DRM this way IS literally criminal. The come-on language on the MLB downloads says if you pay for a download you “own” it, and that you can relive the memories again and again.

I think Mr. Wood should lawyer up. I suspect that a judge would be only too happy to slap MLB around for trying to withhold his legally purchased access to America’s Pastime.

Seriously, with less and less people even caring that baseball exists, you’d think MLB would try to not jack around people that actually cares about the game.

Considering they posted record revenues this year, I suspect this is the tip of the iceberg to how badly they will treat their fans:

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/162833/mlb-posts-record-revenues

I put the name of songs in a P2P program, and all my problems were solved forever. I looked so silly to “illegally” download what I paid

MLB just gives another great lecture why we shouldn’t buy DRM product. How silly to pay for what’s even more “inferior” than pirated products, paying for a shit that is too good to protect rights of copyright holder, not that of consumers.

“If you watch the video on a different machine, another license will be required.”

This would lead a reasonable person to conclude that watching the video on the same machine will use the same license.

For software, that means charging for customising, installing and generally managing it for people.

For music, it’s less settled, but one promising model is to charge for live performances.

For other media, it’s even less settled; I guess the future will tell. It usually does…

When the content gets revoked, you revoke your money: a message is sent to the bankers to let them know the little electronic bits you gave to the company are no longer worth anything.

The lawyers say “the value of a thing, is what that thing will bring”. Therefore, if the value of the content is zero, it should bring zero, shouldn’t it?

“7. Do I have to obtain a license every time I want to watch the downloaded video?

No. When you first try to play the video, a license will be distributed to you and stored by the player. Unless manually deleted, the license will exist forever and will be used when you try to watch the downloaded video on that machine. If you watch the video on a different machine, another license will be required.”

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/help/faq_dds.jsp

My name is chargeback. I’ve got another 4,000 friends coming to the party!

Bob

Gary61

You’re statement implies that with DRM, you can stop people from freely distributing your work.

You can’t. DRM does not stop people from distributing your work and the salesmen who say it does are selling snake oil.

So your question should be: “As a media creator, I’m a little fuzzy on how you get people to pay for my work, even though they can get it for free?”

/snark

Dear Valued Customer,

It has come to our attention that a small subset of our MLB.com Digital Download customers are unable to access and watch certain games that they purchased prior to 2007. MLB.com is committed to ensuring that all non-functioning MLB.com Digital Downloads that were previously purchased are again made available at no additional cost to our customers.

If you are unable to view any MLB.com Digital Download game that you purchased prior to 2007, please contact MLB.com Customer Service by either (1) sending an e-mail to customerservice@website.mlb.com listing the games that are no longer accessible, or (2) by calling 1-866-800-1275 to speak to a representative.

We will then send you an e-mail containing information on how to re-download and access these games. Please note that all Regular Season games will be available, in the originally purchased format, and all Postseason games will be made available, in the same format currently used on mlb.com/downloads.

We regret any inconvenience, and value your continued support.

Sincerely,
MLB.com

If fans re-buy the content again (or just forget about the previous content and buy new games), MLB has no reason to treat fans better and other content providers may follow suit. They make their profits anyway.

If fans don’t buy replacements and either stop watching or obtain their content from other avenues, MLB scream ‘piracy’ and demand that tighter restrictions are put into place. Since they have a monopoly on content, would-be customers can’t vote with their wallets.

It’s a shame, and I don’t normally like this, but I think class action is the only realistic way to go.

-Adam

I believe that MLB’s claim that the license will go on your hard drive upon first viewing and then you are all set is a LIE. Even when the page was up a few years ago, I always had to log in to get a license even when I was playing a game for the 3rd, 4th and 5th time.

And MLB supposedly gives you the opportunity to get a license on 3 separate compauters. Considering how often people upgrade their computers, it is only a matter of time before the files are kaput.

I also don’t think I’ll be purchasing any DVDs from them this time around.