How long before the MLB shuts down baseball blogs?

by Dex on Apr 2, 2008 6:59 AM PDT

The Cincinatti Enquirer has a piece on the battle between the MLB and the media. What's interesting is how much the MLB and the traditional media is fighting over this kind of stuff, when so much of it is slipping to independent bloggers. It's all about credentialing, and I'm not so much concerned with gettiing a media credential, but the ramifications are interesting.

The spat started when baseball issued its annual credential guidelines, which include tight restrictions on digital content such as photo galleries, audio and video on Web sites and blogs.

Uh oh... here's something else with my own emphasis.

"They didn't print newspapers and we did that, so we weren't competitors. Now, we have Web sites, they have Web sites and so they view us as competitors," said John Cherwa, chair of the legal affairs committee for the Associated Press Sports Editors.

"I think their long-term goal is they would like to see us all as rights-holders when it comes to the Internet," a situation that could conceivably force news organizations to pay fees to teams or leagues for the use of their content.

So this fight is between baseball and traditional media, but obviously, the next step looks like baseball taking on whoever else is out on the internets... Including your friendly, neighborhood Gaslamp Ball.

Personally, I think most people will eventually come to sites like this one when they want to discuss their favorite baseball teams and forgo some of the more "traditional" outlets. I'm positive that most people would never have Gaslamp Ball as their only source of information. Part of that is just that we aren't comprehensive by ourselves, but also because we actively encourage you to click the links out and see what else is on the internet for more viewpoints. Of course I'd love it if you came here first, because that would suggest that you enjoy being a Gaslamp Baller enough to possibly contribute and improve on what we already have, but to be honest, I've got nothing against you visiting Ducksnorts first, or the blog of your favorite baseball team or Deadspin even ESPN or whatever. Just as long as you visit here eventually. We try to link out whenever we can (or remember to), and it's without a second thought. In fact, be sure to visit the Enquirer article. Just make sure you come back here again and often.

I think this is where the MLB and many major companies don't understand how the internet works. They see their numbers (abstract and uncontainable as they are) as commodoties and they see everything on the internet as competition. Because they can't attach a hard dollar value to sites like Gaslamp Ball, they'll eventually see us as competition as well.

I'm not saying that Major League Baseball shouldn't be allowed to make money from what they do. I'm not even saying that they shouldn't be allowed to make most of the money that's out there. It's just discouraging when companies blatantly make it apparent that they only view their fans as consumers or competition. Come on, Major League Baseball. I thought our relationship was something more.

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They may take our lives...

But they'll never take our BLOG!

At least, they'd better not.

"It's just discouraging when companies blatantly make it apparent that they only view their fans as consumers or competition. "

Sounds like they're taking a page out of the NFL playbook.

by Deb on Apr 2, 2008 8:00 AM PDT 0 recs

I was thinking the same thing

..just like the NFL.

Yeah, the internets scare them. All too accessible and then they cannot control the money and content 100%. They miss the larger point of how it has widened their fan base and allowed more of us to take part. Talk radio is out there, but only a few people can call in and voice their opinions. This medium allows ALL of us to call in.

by Christina on Apr 2, 2008 8:11 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hmmm...

what's the over/under on how long before the website for this place is mlb.padres.com/gaslampball?

by pjbno4 on Apr 2, 2008 8:38 AM PDT 0 recs

Do they really want that fight?

This would be like suing their own fans. Blogs create interest in baseball. There is plenty of room on the internets for everyone. Plus I'm pretty sure they don't have a legal leg to stand on.

by planetjeffy on Apr 2, 2008 9:27 AM PDT 0 recs

Talk about alienating your fanbase

Do we have clearance Clarence? What's your vector Victor?

by sqrunt on Apr 2, 2008 9:40 AM PDT up 0 recs

What's the internet version of a speakeasy?

We'll need code for players and teams, never able to use real identifiers...I better slap a ® on my username before it's too late.

I don't think the powers that be are dumb enough to trample on the communities that are out there which foster a greater interest in their product. They may wish to restrict things like media, but a quick look around this site makes it clear you can run a successful, useful baseblog (yeah, I better ™ that word too) without relying on copyrighted material.

Attempting to restrict sites further would fail for myriad reasons; the sort of way a change in policy could affect a site like GLB would be the interviews they're able to conduct -- if Depodesta's instructed to talk to only accredited media, that could throw a monkeywrench into matters. That said, I don't come here for only one reason, and as cool as the interviews are, I'd still visit here daily (at least) were they not available.

by California Penal on Apr 2, 2008 10:05 AM PDT 0 recs

Those greedy f*cking bastards can burn in hell

I had no idea how bad it was...

"...a provision limiting bloggers to posting less frequently than once per half-inning."

"A Louisville Courier-Journal reporter was thrown out of a game between the University of Louisville and Oklahoma State for posting live updates to his blog."

"All the big fellas in baseball are gonna get scrawny and weak like those stat geeks that nobody likes." -- Roger Clemens

by TheGrandHatching on Apr 2, 2008 10:09 AM PDT 0 recs

OH, F THAT.

That's absolutely atrocious.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if official content providers (in any medium) did as good a job as amateurs did, there wouldn't be the amount of unofficial distribution of materials/information available on the web. People do what they do because there's a content hole in the spectrum, and it's not so much an overshadowing of the official content as it is a complement to it. MLB needs to recognize this or the rift's going to get worse.

by California Penal on Apr 2, 2008 10:30 AM PDT up 0 recs

who's afraid of the internets now, mother dodgers?

http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/internetreal.htm

I wouldn't worry about this wanna-be controversy at all. It's a test balloon to feel out public opinion in the event of trial. But it doesn't make sense at all.

How can they make discussing baseball a crime? Don't we live in America? (plus the Blue Jays) As long as fans can bring cameras to ballparks there will be photos and blogs all over the internets. And baseball wants it that way.

MLBAM (Advanced Media) is a separate business entity and shares its revenue among the 30 team owners. Pretty smart set-up by [former owner] Bud Selig. It's now an extremely profitable company.

Large corporations that buy advertising from MLBAM get jealous when we read Dex's ramblings before Corey Brock's brief (but thankfully prompt) game reports. It is because we see SB Nation's advertising instead of mlb.com

Think about it. No discussing baseball outside of ballparks Imagine when they try to make this illegal:

Ring! Ring!
The Rev: hello?
jbox: dude, Sean, did you see the game?
The Rev: I'm out of town, what happened?
jbox: The Padres scored 5 in the ninth to win, I need to punch somebody!
The Rev: dude, it is illegal to talk about baseball with someone who didn't buy a ticket!!

Have no fear, blog on Gaslamp Ballers!

Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.

by TheRevRun on Apr 2, 2008 10:53 AM PDT 0 recs

Gaslamp

I don't see how it is a problem. Blogs like these show how much interest there is to MLB. We are the people who go to the games and purchase MLB.TV. We talk in blogs to discuss topics, share opinions and see what is going on with other fans. If I were MLB I would use blogs as a way to see how the fan is feeling about their product.

By the way, what the F is up with MLB.TV? Seeing people having problems with it just makes me not want to get it.

CaleciaPad

by CaleciaPad on Apr 2, 2008 12:59 PM PDT 0 recs

MLB.TV

This is from today's Washington Post.

"And the way I feel tonight...well I could die and I wouldn't mind."

by Drama on Apr 2, 2008 1:01 PM PDT up 0 recs

Same ol same ol

Two years ago, it SUCKED for the first 6 days or so. I mean, every 10 minutes, connections dropped. And while they offered Mosaic, it was buggy and only ran with fluidity on top-tier systems. The 700k feed they rolled out had extreme buffering problems, rendering it unusable in most games throughout the year if they were even remotely popular feeds.

Last year, they were bumpy for the first 2-3 days of the season. Connection wasn't dropping anymore, and Mosaic loaded a bit faster due to new tech behind it and better server load handling. Still, rough to use on many systems. The 700k feed became dependable, and on games sourced from HD, the widescreen 700k feed looked downright sharp. I could blow it up on my 34" widescreen, and with a bit of a zoom applied, I could watch what looked roughly like analog TV in a widescreen format. All things considered, it was definitely acceptable for a 700k windows media feed.

This year, the Silverlight garbage was prematurely implemented. Everyone who's got the service, to use at max ability right now, has uninstalled Silverlight and gone back to last year's WMP 700k feed. Mosaic's running crappy due to Silverlight, but unless you have the pipe for it, you're better off loading each game you want to see in a 700k feed and tiling your browser windows, making your own makeshift Mosaic.

They're getting there, and honestly, they're getting better and better each year. The features are enhanced, the customer service (when your call actually makes it through - I waited 40 minutes on the phone two years ago on a Tuesday night, probably about 7 pm PST, before I finally got through) is knowledgeable and courteous, and I can still use a proxy when I need to. Better than NFL's online pac....oh, wait, they don't have one for the US.

by California Penal on Apr 2, 2008 1:52 PM PDT up 0 recs

Other media outlets?

I only get channel 4, and my web browser only goes to gaslampball.com.......any body want to give me an update on the Presidential race? Is TTG still winning?

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Apr 2, 2008 1:11 PM PDT 0 recs