Maybe you saw the headline stories, like this one at TMZ, where you were told that you better pay the $100 because finding an illegal stream might be difficult:
It turned out to be very easy to see the fight for free: just go to TWITTER.
We are only human. So we make up excuses for questionable behavior. The reason there are security guards, and tags clamped onto clothing in stores, is so that people resist temptation. There's no such problem on the Internet. People download anything and stream anything "because we can!" It's rare when even a torrent owner or somebody who leaks nude pix of a celebrity goes to jail. The person getting illegal streams and downloads? No worries.
Grown people who have kids that they lecture to...will STEAL ON THE INTERNET. They might even give their kids the latest Taylor Swift on a download, or the kids will give the parents a complete set of Bob Dylan. They don't feel bad about it at all. It's not like "down the pants" stealing in a store, or walking out of the restaurant without paying. Many brag about their Internet downloads and favorite blogs, and act like they're real outlaws. They'll even check into some stealing forum under some vivid name like Mephisto or JesseJames.
Last night, TWITTER was loaded with MEMES of people smirking, giving the finger and popping their eyes over FREE TWITTER FEEDS: people "sharing" the fight they bought via streaming on TWITTER.
Veterans of PPV-hating know where the best pirate websites are. Some of these sites, like the one formerly known as OLEOLE bounce around a bit and change their names, but few have been shut down. SHOWTIME and friends tried to go after them, and demanded Google be vigilant about blocking searches that involved Mayweather, McGregor and "free streams" or "watch the fight free" and other phrases. Were they successful? Like swatting a barn full of flies with a toothpick. The usual suspects were up and running, with the usual number of blocked channels.
But who needed to hunt around for an obscure site or a link to a Russian language broadcast when...all it took for the average person to get the fight free, was to check TWITTER? Quite an irony, isn't it? SHOWTIME has its lawyers fighting and fuming and making threats...and the biggest social media site has illegal streams a'plenty.
What bothers me the most about this, is the word SHARE.
While it's not particularly nice to STEAL and be proud of it, claiming that you're only SHARING is hypocritical and dumb.
STEALING is not SHARING, and it has nothing to do with FREEDOM OF SPEECH either.
Somehow, because the people who do it have the mentality of 8 year-olds, they've gotten it into their heads that STEALING is ok because it's SHARING. They refused to share when they were 8 years old, and hated it when Mommy and Daddy scolded and said "Share that candy with your brother" or "Offer some of your toys so your sister can play."
Now? "Oh, look at ME, I'm SHARING! I've learned to be GENEROUS!"
Yeah, you're the fucking Jesus of Piracy.
I counted dozens upon dozens of people Tweeting things like "To the person who paid for the fight, and shared the stream...Bless You!"
Human nature is that somebody who had the $100, but RESENTED PAYING, decided, "OK, I'll get even, and I'll give away the fight to God only knows, at least 100 people. Showtime will LOSE some money, and that'll make ME feel better."
That's human nature. That, and the peculiar idea that you get joy from anonymous thank-you's from people who are not your friends and wouldn't give you a penny if you put up a GOFUNDME campaign.
Did SHOWTIME think to go after TWITTER, and tell them to have some extra staffers monitoring the site and pulling down piracy requests and links? Doesn't seem like it, and thanks to weak DMCA laws, TWITTER doesn't HAVE to. All they have to do is honor a request, in writing, submitted by fax or by a filled in PDF form that they choose to use, in a timely manner (which could be a day after the fight ended).
SHARE SHARE IT'S ONLY FAIR! TWEET TWEET, TWITTER IS NEAT!
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