Hi all,

I have a few questions about online streams.

1. is it legal to watch a online stream of f.i. the belgian gp practice?
2. is it legal to watch f.i. bbc iplayer outside of the uk trough a proxy?

I know here in the netherlands it is legal to download movies, music, tv shows as long as you don't upload them and use them for your own use. Could the same logic apply to streams?

Is it really legal to be able to download films etc. regardless of their source? I find that a bit odd.

No idea what the legalities are surrounding online streams, but like others, I'll try to beat the system if it's the only way of watching.

I think it is illigeal to host a stream of F1 practise but its not illigeal to watch F1 if you find a stream

And it is illigeal to watch BBC iPlayer outside UK, but who cares its not like you gonna go jail if you use a proxy to watch it

I gon't know if it is legal or not, but when I took part in a BBC contracted survey a couple of weeks ago, my main complaint was that they were restricting the streams to UK citizens only.

I don't expect it to do any good though.

You might find some information here.

If you are watching BBC streams from outside the UK then it's illegal.

Reason: License. Fee.

Unless you have a license fee then you can't watch BBC streams or iPlayer.

I would happily pay a percentage of the BBC license fee if that means I would get online access to the full variety of F1 coverage.

Couldn't say for sure, but I'd guess no.



If you have to go through an independent proxy to watch it I'd guess the BBC don't want non license payers to view it, so no. They'll have paid a fairly sizeable sum of money to get the rights in the first place so I don't think they'd be keen on offering a free service to the rest of the world.

Question. Would it also be illegal in the country of the person accessing the streams?

Here in the Netherlands I can watch BBC1 and BBC 2 though cable, Am I not allowed to do that because I am outside the UK as well?

download for own use is legal, not for software though.

I'd guess the cable company has paid the BBC for the rights to broadcast them.

there is a difference between what the bbc wants and what is law. I understand some of the reasoning to keep the bbc streams local. And i presume the bbc are oredered by the FOM to keep them local aswell. but still what the FOM and the BBC want is not law.

Doesnt work like that, its £148.50 a year. Or £48.00 if you have a black and white monitor

I think only a lawyers can answer that.


But speaking out of my arse: I think that under UE rules watching (not downloading) whatever is on the Internet is legal (in the strict sense: you won't be prosecuted and you're not breaking any paragraphs), unless the content is illegal (ie: child porn), proxy or not. Hosting the stream is what is illegal. I could be very much mistaken, though.




edit: BTW, it's painful how obsolete the copyrights are in the age of the Internets.

If I am not mistaken the current piratebay lawsuits and everything are about them knowing to offer something illegal. if pirate bay loses that would mean that giving a link to a stream would be illegal but not watching it. The laws are very contradicting IMO. What is autosports official stance on online streams BTW?

£148.50!!! That's gone up a bit. About £20 in a couple of years?

I've tried to get a proxy to work with no success

Geoblocking and license fees are something completly different to watching and illegal stream someone else put on the internet.

That's like saying it's illegal to watch a region 1 DVD in a region 2 country.

Ok, I agree that its illegal under UK civil law to watch the BBC streams without having a TV license, but if your not in the UK then the BBC aren't going to be able to extradite you to take you to court in the UK, so its a moot point.

The real question is, is it illegal under the laws of whichever country you are in ?

Are you sure about that? That would be the equivalent of receiving stolen goods unless downloaded from a legal source.

What is legal or illegal for you depends on the legislation of your country.

The often mentioned "international law" means that some countries have agreed on a common set of rules and each have their own laws to implement them. In each case it is the individual laws of each country which make something legal or illegal in that country.

For example software "End-User License Agreements", EULAs, are often requiring more from me than my local legislation does - as per our contract laws, I don't have to care about something which is in conflict with our local legislation. Some smarter software companies, like Microsoft, know this, and mention it appropriately in their EULAs.

Just talking in general of this subject, not a direct reply to anyone here.

I am sure but I don't think the law has been tested in court. I think the reasoning is that you are allowed to make a copy of music you buy and you are allowed to lend a cd to others and from those two it somehow resulted in legal downloading.

If you use something like bittorrent you automaticly share the file you are downloading which is illegal, the same applies for p2p streaming (sopcast).