MLB Granted Patent For Internet-Blackout System
Major League Baseball Says It's the First U.S. Patent Issued to Industry in Modern Era
Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 5/15/2009 4:50:00 PM
Major League Baseball's interactive-media company has been granted a U.S. patent for a system and method that identifies the location of an Internet user, in order to determine if that user may receive the video feed of a particular game given TV blackout restrictions.
The system uses geolocation technology to estimate the whereabouts of Internet users based on Internet protocol addresses. It then compares that location with a set of rules to determine whether to provide access to the requested content.
MLB Advanced Media said it believed the patent is the first issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to the baseball industry in the modern era.
"It is an honor for MLB Advanced Media to receive the special recognition that constitutes a United States Patent," MLB president and chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said in a statement. "The patent issuance is also representative of the innovation the MLBAM technology team demonstrates by remaining at the forefront of interactive and advance technologies. This entire team is to be congratulated and commended for its achievement."
The league's MLB.TV out-of-market streaming service is currently in its seventh season. MLB said the service has signed up more than 1 million total subscribers since its inception, adding approximately 500,000 in 2008.
MLBAM applied for the patent in December 2004, and the USPTO granted the patent Feb. 3, 2009. The company said it has an additional 10 patent applications pending approval.
The patent is U.S. Patent No. 7,486,943, "System and method for verifying access based on a determined geographic location of a subscriber of a service provided via a computer network."
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I see a lot of proxies being used just to view the games.
This is a poor use of technology.
Tony Hall - 5/17/2009 4:21:05 PM EDT -
The Dodgers have NEVER had a station that could be viewed over the air in my region in the 33 years I've lived here. I live about 200 miles from the stadium. And I'm blacked out. I live about 300 miles from the giants and slightly fewer from the athletics, yet both teams have regularly had broadcast stations in my area over the years, currently the Giants do. It's fine if thats how teams want to broadcast, but why am I blacked out online for the Dodgers and Angels (230 miles away?), which don't even have full-time radio stations here this year, while I can watch Giants and Athletics games on TV and I'm not blacked out for them online? Apparently the Giants and Athletics believe I'm in their territory, so why doesn't MLB? Bud Selig promised years ago at an all-star game in Texas to look into this type of situation when a fan brought it up, and still nothing has happened. The Selig era has by far been the worst in baseball, particularly in the area of technology (side note, I got nearly all MLB game audio for free online before Selig outlawed that and priced it all through MLB.com). Thank you patent office for extending this man's power to thwart fans.
David Russ - 5/17/2009 12:20:08 AM EDT
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