DW on piracy: People will start going to jail
Mixed martial arts fans who watch pirated internet content could soon be pressed against the cage, says the president of…
Mixed martial arts fans who watch pirated internet content could soon be pressed against the cage, says the president of an industry-leading fight promotion. In a move that could signal a sea change in the viral presence of MMA — the burgeoning sport of caged pugilism — Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, said his company is readying a legal assault on individuals and websites that deal in unauthorized content.
When people start going to jail, people will stop doing it, White said.
The weapon of choice for digital thieves: streaming video websites that beam live pay-per-view signals to their home computers, free of charge.
UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta testified for the US House Judiciary Committee earlier this month during a referendum on internet piracy of sporting events and said his anti-piracy team had uncovered 271 illegal streams of UFC 106 with over 140,000 viewers.
The piracy of live sporting events is illegal, it kills jobs, and it threatens the expansion of US based companies, he told lawmakers. The UFC is potentially losing millions of dollars a year from piracy.
An angry White said his company had been considering legal action for years but mounting losses had forced action.
It’s going to be a battle, man, he said. It’s going to be a battle, but I’m ready to (expletive) fight, he said. We’re gonna go after them, we’re gonna go after them hard, and we’re gonna hurt ‘em.
Lawrence Epstein, the UFC’s general legal counsel, said the company could subpoena websites that carry illegal content for the IP addresses and user information of people who watch and download UFC fights, though he declined to say when that would happen.
White said the UFC’s anti-piracy team monitors illegal streams during events and aggressively pursues offending websites, though he admitted suing websites and individuals would be a costly effort.
(Piracy) hasn’t cost us anything compared to what it’s going to cost us to go after these guys, he said. It’s gonna cost us a lot of money, but guess what—it’s gonna cost them a lot of money. It’s gonna get to the point where it’s like, you know what, (expletive) it, maybe we shouldn’t pirate MMA any more. These websites … you got these websites like Justin.tv, and they pirate all kinds of things. They play all kinds of (expletive) on there. Well, we’re gonna make it where it’s not worth it to put UFC events up on the website.
