Fans Livid Over Blocked Baseball Vids

MLB switches DRM provider; purchased content now defunct
By Jesse Andrews,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2007 11:49 PM CST
Fans Livid Over Blocked Baseball Vids
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig gestures during a news conference before the start of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game against San Francisco Giants Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)   (Associated Press)

Now that Major League Baseball has switched its DRM provider, fans who purchased videos and other baseball content in '06 can no longer access their downloads. A representative for the league explained that they had made one-time purchases, although a blogger says based on a phone interview with MLB officials that the league is considering renewing access in the face of online uproar.

The Joy of Sox, a Red Sox fan blog, reports, "During the call, MLB agreed that it had handled this issue in an 'sub-optimal manner'. Whatever it had done to alert customers to the potential problems during the DRM platform switchover was an 'inelegant solution.'" The problem occurs because already-purchased videos check online for rights approval at the MLB web site everytime they're played. (More MLB stories.)

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