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Vevo-sponsored event caught streaming pirated NFL playoff game (updated: Vevo responds)

Vevo-sponsored event caught streaming pirated NFL playoff game (updated: Vevo responds)

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A pirated NFL football game was discovered playing at a Vevo-sponsored event this past January.

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NFL Game Being Pirated at Vevo Event
NFL Game Being Pirated at Vevo Event

TechCrunch is reporting that music video syndication company Vevo was streaming a pirated NFL playoff game at a recent company-sponsored event in Park City, Utah. Vevo, which is owned in part by Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, distributes music videos for several labels across the web, and was hosting the January event as part of the Sundance Film Festival. Several televisions and laptops were spotted showing the game between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens — apparently originating from a broadcast by the UK channel ESPN America — via the Spanish-language site TuTele.tv. When asked about the incident, Vevo told TechCrunch that the event was produced by an outside agency named Continuum Entertainment, and that the feed was terminated when Vevo discovered that pirated content was being screened. ESPN reportedly confirmed that the stream was pirated, but did not indicate whether it would be pursuing any legal action.

Update: Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff has responded to the allegations in a post on the company's blog, stating that Vevo rejected requests to air the game at the event, only to have an unknown guest commandeer the laptop feeding the screens in question. He states that it was the company's "mistake for not making sure the laptop was more secure," while also reiterating that the stream was turned off when Vevo became aware of the issue. This doesn't quite square with TechCrunch's report — which stated that after buffering issues the game was reloaded at least once — but Caraeff insists that Vevo is "very sensitive to what happened at Sundance and the issues it has raised."