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**H-Deep** · 12-17-2009, 09:47 AM

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta testified Wednesday at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on piracy of live sports broadcasting over the Internet, and he said the UFC is potentially losing tens of millions of dollars because people are illegally streaming UFC pay-per-views online.

"Just last month, the broadcast of UFC 106 from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, had over 271 unauthorized streams with over 140,000 views, and those are only the ones that our anti-piracy team and consultants identified," Fertitta told the committee. "There were likely more streams that we simply couldn't find."

In reality, there were certainly more streams that the UFC couldn't find: Internet piracy is a huge problem all over the world, and the 271 unauthorized streams that the UFC could find were definitely not the only unauthorized streams out there.

Fertitta said he wasn't addressing Congress to advocate for specific legislation against online piracy. Rather, Fertitta said he wanted to make Congress aware that it's a problem that will only grow without some type of action.

"I do not have sufficient mastery of the technical details to venture an opinion on how these streaming technologies will develop, but it is clear that these sites are making their money on the backs of stolen copyrighted works," Fertitta said.

One site Fertitta mentioned, Justin.tv, was represented at the hearing by its CEO, Michael Seibel. Justin.tv maintains that it doesn't attempt to facilitate illegal Internet piracy, and that it works with copyright owners to take unauthorized streams down. Fertitta said he appreciates the fact that Justin.tv has reached out to the UFC, but he said he thinks more could be done -- and that many sites are illegally profiting from the UFC's copyrighted broadcasts.

"I submit that they have deliberately chosen not to take reasonable precautions to deter the rampant infringement on their sites because they directly profit from the availability of popular infringing streams on those sites," Fertitta said.

Source : mmafanhouse

Thats around 7 million dollars they lost. I think its going to get a lot worse for the ufc, technology is so good that its incredibly easy to find streams

vaj3000 · 12-17-2009, 10:09 AM

ppl who watch streams will never pay for the PPV they'll just download it the next day or something....he should stop wasting his time

**LjStronge** · 12-17-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H-Deep

Thats around 7 million dollars they lost. I think its going to get a lot worse for the ufc, technology is so good that its incredibly easy to find streams

It might be easy to find streams, but almost ALL of them are shockingly poor quality.

They get taken down half way through, crap video & Audio.

Like the above poster said, the guys streaming are not going to buy the PPV anyway, so it's not like they are really losing out on immediate revenue.

They will lose out on DVD sales though, BIG TIME, as the torrent goes up a day after, and is in perfect quality, if not a HD feed.

People who love MMA and want to watch the event properly without skipping through websites of shite quality will get the PPV. Their problem is the torrent end I feel.

**MagiK11** · 12-17-2009, 10:45 AM

I buy the UFC ppv's for the most part and download them online later. Like i"m going to pay $55 and then buy the DVD lol

Bzaal · 12-17-2009, 10:51 AM

I'm sure there are a LOT more then 140k

Sekou · 12-17-2009, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H-Deep

One site Fertitta mentioned, Justin.tv

uh oh

**The Horticulturist** · 12-17-2009, 11:26 AM

Private streams FTW.

This number is WAY low. MAYBE that many people watched it LIVE illegally, but the day and days after that MILLIONS watch it for free.

About the Quality : You can get full Xvid quality on a private stream, and you can download 100% HD the next day by torrent. So to those who think the technology isn't there, it has been for awhile!

I buy PPVs when they are stacked, or if someone wants to pitch in for it. I give them plenty of support otherwise. Call me selective, but the world is falling apart, and I'm not spending all of my money on something others are getting for free.