Tuesday, July 30, 2002

More "metfans site shutdown"  blogs: SportsFilter | Comments on 659: "MLBP orders a Mets fansite to shut down for copyright violation and cybersquatting. Next all fans will be sued for copyright violation for wearing team shirts and hats. It is getting easier and easier to turn my back on Major League baseball. posted by srboisvert to Baseball at 11:00 AM CST (3 comments total)" 7:36:47 PM

Another point of Cluelessness MLB, bouncing off the closing remark from this blog: The Trademark Blog: "Finally, as a practice pointer for folk with clients in the sports and entertainment field, you have to be really careful how you deal with fans, because you never want to see your demand letters posted on a website. It would seem that getting the fan sites into a web ring would circumvent a lot of this agita." That would seem quite logical to people who know something about the Web audience.  MLB has been at it for at least a year now,  which for me began with their taking away the rights of radio stations to do Internet broadcasts of their teams games.  I am a huge Reds fan,  who moved out of town 5 years ago.  In 1999,  when the Reds were last in the race,  I was able to tune into broadcasts with my net connection.  Suddenly,  there was this page coming up saying I had to subscroibe to Real Networks or MLB plus (or some such program) for 19.95.  NO way!  With all the bad PR going on,  some of this shit needs rolling back and restored,  to make some small gesture of goodwill toward the fans (which will be moot anyway). Negotiate THIS Don Fehr! 6:35:13 PM

More blogs on the MLB vs FanSite furor: The Trademark Blog: "Kiner's Corner on Metsonline.net I became aware of a dispute regarding metsonline.net through Dave via Ernie. Apparently, Major League Baseball has sent a demand letter to a guy who is running a Mets fan site. Ernie asked me for my two cents." 6:18:58 PM

More crazy stuff about the metsonline.net:  The link to Slate shows a link to a page that is also gone,  apparently also asked by MLB to not post their rude message to "cease and desist".  What a bunch of bozos.  They don't deserve to be in charge of baseball.  They're obviously clueless about the help such sites as this give them.   Clueless also about baseball itself  apprently. Instapundit.com:: "July 30, 2002 BASEBALL TO FANS: UP YOURS! As reader Bill McCabe puts it: "On the eve of a strike, Major League Baseball shows its love for the fans by sending a Cease & Desist Order to a fan site dedicated to the New York Mets." They don't think of 'em as fans, Bill. They think of 'em as sheep to be fleeced, just the way the folks at the RIAA and MPAA think of music and movie overs. UPDATE: Slate has picked up on the story. Posted by Glenn Reynolds at July 30, 2002 10:03 AM" 6:06:54 PM

Bloggin' Baseball! I'm lookin' for a good Reds blog.  I'm bloggin' a little baseball,  but it's not my only passion, so it woudn't be as elaborate.  But I love the idea.  Dave apparently does too. Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link to metsonline.net. As a Mets fan since 1962, I think it's great that sites like this exist and are flourishing. Like Bryan Hoch, the webmaster, I also run websites as a labor of love, and know there isn't generally a whole lot of money left over after you pay for bandwidth. I totally believe Hoch, a college student, when he says he isn't making money. The site clearly disclaims that it is not representative of the Mets or Major League Baseball. If you go deeper you see that Hoch contributed his time for free to help the Mets improve their own site, before all sites were taken over by MLB in 2001 (what a bad idea, why can't teams differentiate themselves based on the quality of their community sites). Now of course there's another side to it, so let's keep an open mind. But to the owners of the Mets, please remember, it's the fans that make it work, and it's pretty clear that this website is from the fans, for the fans and the team, and that's a good thing. [Scripting News] 7:24:52 AM