Police raid Blackburn pubs, seize satellite gear

[Analoguesat]

Police in Blackburn, NW England, have raided four public houses and seized satellite equipment that was being used to show English football matches to customers using overseas satellite channels. In England and Scotland, it is illegal to screen live matches at 3 pm on Saturdays, the traditional time for live football, but the FA Premier League provides a picture feed from one of the games to TV stations outside the UK. It is easy for pubs to obtain the satellite equipment and viewing cards required. The Premier League is becoming increasingly proactive in chasing the offenders.

This morning, police and trading standards officers accompanied by Media Protection Services (MPS), the company that operates on behalf of UK rights-holder BSkyB, raided 4 Blackburn pubs and seized foreign satellite cards and decoders. MPS had previously visited these pubs and warned licensees they were breaking the law.

Dan Johnson, chief spokesman for the FA Premier League, said that along with MPS it would now look to prosecute the offending licensees. “This sends a clear message to the licensed trade that the use of foreign satellite systems is illegal and will not be tolerated,” he said. “We hope that other licensees will take heed and stop using these illegal systems, so it’s not necessary to pursue the prosecution of other publicans. We will also be using this evidence to target suppliers in the coming months.”

A number of licensees have continued to show football via foreign satellite systems after prosecutions against licensees recently failed on the basis they did not know they were acting dishonestly. Suppliers of foreign satellite systems to the pub trade continue to claim they are operating within the law

(Source: The Publican via Media Network weblog)

[satsid]

hi m8,nice report on pubs here,same old story on a fight against footie in pubs.some publicans get off @ the court case,i would be very intrested 2 know how thay do this.
sid

[Analoguesat]

The acid test will be what the courts decide when these go before the bench. An awful lot of folks will be very interested indeed in the eventual outcomes of these cases.

[Jimdefruit]

It will be worth following this one. Several UK courts have ruled that it is not illegal.

[BGonaSTICK]

Originally Posted by Analoguesat

In England and Scotland, it is illegal to screen live matches at 3 pm on Saturdays

What a load of rubbish! Show me the English and Scottish laws that say that!

As far as I'm aware, the FAPL have an agreement with BSkyB not to broadcast live 3pm Saturday matches to protect their commercial interests and those of the clubs they represent (WRT gate receipts etc.), but it's not law.

It may well be illegal to buy and use an overseas subscription card in the UK, so the publicans are in for a good kicking either way, but the wording of that particular article is grossly misrepresentative IMO, and plays right into the hands of the BSkyB bully-boys.

Doesn't it amount to the same thing, I hear you say?

Well no, not at all.

The FAPL licence overseas providers to show 3pm Saturday Premier League football in their domestic markets, knowing full well that the satellite footprints extend beyond the licenced geographic borders.

If the broadcaster screws up and transmits it FTA for example, then it would be perfectly legal for a pub full of people to watch it over a pint in England or Scotland. The fault would then clearly rest with the overseas provider!

Maybe more interestingly, the same would be true of an unencrypted live feed for example - but here the fault would depend on the detail in the contracts for providing the feed. Either way it wouldn't be illegal to 'screen' the game in public or privately.

You may think this is splitting hairs because very little FAPL gets shown FTA, but it's a very important hair for me!

The prosecution rests milord :roflmao:

[Analoguesat]

FA Premier League provides a picture feed from one of the games to TV stations outside the UK

One game ??

[BGonaSTICK]

And no sound? :?