VEVO, the music video powerhouse owned primarily by Universal and Sony and including content from EMI, would seem to be the last company to knowingly stream pirated video at a major event. But that's exactly what they did at their recent Sundance party and the NFL's Patriots vs Ravens playoff game.
The feed "had apparently been accessed via a site called Frontrow.tv," according to TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid, who was at the event. "...So I went to the source to verify my suspicions: ESPN. Which confirmed that neither site has the rights to stream its content. In other words, yes — that game was indeed being pirated. In fact, Frontrow.tv has since apparently gone dark, likely as a result of a recent crackdown by federal authorities on sports sites with pirated content."
"Given that the venue probably had access to a cable subscription (or perhaps an antenna, given that this was broadcast over the air)," continued Kincaid, "I’m not sure why it would decide to go the piracy route."
Why, indeed?
