https://tinyurl.com/yco7rzx7

Suggests thatthe streams may be strangled at birth. We'll have to see.

It will have no effect of the top players like sportsmania, anybody worried though should get themselves a good VPN like IPVANISH.

claretandy wrote:It will have no effect of the top players like sportsmania, anybody worried though should get themselves a good VPN like IPVANISH.

How can that be Andy if Virgin for example put a block on you using certain streams? I can understand that if you have a VPN then they will not know what you are doing.

If they cut the broadcasts off at source, VPNs will be irrelevant, cos there'll be
nowt to shield in the first place. ISPs will not be allowed to let it through if this is true.

Could be a major blow.

Maybe Sportsmania will be ok though, cos it's subscription.
Have to wait and see.

As you say sportsmania is a subscription. Its all these shite free streams people chase 4 every week.

Theres more and more demand for prem football abroad thers no way they can keep tabs on everything. Ther will always be a link somewhere

Says Premier League had it in place for the last 2 months of last season but my sportsmania streams carried on working perfectly, complete non story.

The music industry originally tried to kill services like Napster that offered up a way to access content for free, yet now we're in a world of Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Prime etc. There's no going back, the TV companies will struggle with this for a few years then realise that the best way to kill it is to offer high quality content at a reasonable subscription rate.

Sproggy wrote:The music industry originally tried to kill services like Napster that offered up a way to access content for free, yet now we're in a world of Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Prime etc. There's no going back, the TV companies will struggle with this for a few years then realise that the best way to kill it is to offer high quality content at a reasonable subscription rate.

I couldn't agree more with this. Within 10 years I predict that we'll be able to watch pretty much anything for a fee (including any match). The TV subscription will go the same way as music has gone.

Agree with what Sproggy says.
Lower, reasonable subscriptions would probably put in check the obscene amounts Skye/Whoever pay for rights.
Trouble is, the Big clubs will find a way to gobble up the larger portions and, the gulf will just get even bigger.
Likely by streaming their own games and, keeping subscriptions.

claretburns wrote:Says Premier League had it in place for the last 2 months of last season but my sportsmania streams carried on working perfectly, complete non story.

For most people the sportsmania streams didnt carry on working perfectly at the end of last season as Sky and Virgin were strangling the streams. Getting a VPN helped with this. Im pretty sure if you have a VPN connected to a commercial server in a different country then Sky etc cannot touch them as they would be affecting everyone who uses that server. Is that correct?

If they stream.. we will watch it.. with a VPN of course
They can't stop it, just impossible!
Inconvieniant yes, as links dissapear/taken down but others replace them

Unless Sportsmania pay Sky they will be a target this season and could find themselves firmly in the firing line with them making money from sky content, from what I have read at the end of last season they were testing ways to quickly identify and take down illegal streams along with some new encryption methods hence the death of cardsharing and they will be ready to roll that out season. As said above a vpn won't help much as they seem to be mainly going after the streams at source by shutting servers down not just blocking IP's.
Its still a good idea to have a VPN they could also be looking into ways to identify and cut off peoples connection to the internet if they are using kodi boxes or iptv services to access copyrighted content not sure how this would work or if this is just scare tactics.

They do seem to be cottoning on that the best way to combat it is not only make it harder to get for free but also make it more affordable with the new sky sports packages where you pay for the sports channels you want.

TheOriginalLongsider wrote:For most people the sportsmania streams didnt carry on working perfectly at the end of last season as Sky and Virgin were strangling the streams. Getting a VPN helped with this. Im pretty sure if you have a VPN connected to a commercial server in a different country then Sky etc cannot touch them as they would be affecting everyone who uses that server. Is that correct?

The streams did work as usual but they had to change how you accessed it - I didnt use a VPN and could still access even when watching Sky Sports streams.

To help explain what is happening as I have understood it.

You have the server which broadcasts/shares the stream ---> You then have a VPN server that sits between you and the above server/Internet in general -----> You then have you sat at your device. Your device accesses the internet through the VPN server so your ISP can only see you connected to that server but nothing else.

A VPN therefore may hide what you are doing from your ISP but if the ISPs cut off the server broadcasting the stream, your VPN is largely irrelevant.

I enjoyed a full season last year with SM and the guys who run it have said they know a way around this and intend to implement this so there is no reason to believe that there will be an issue going again this year. That said, who knows what the providers will do if they spot people are still finding work arounds. It could become a bit cat and mouse.

My intention is that I am potentially going to go with an official stream provider whose streams and servers will not be closed down and use VPN to access them this way.

I pay for sky but it really irks me that we cannot get 3pm kick offs and I wish more effort was put into a solution that protects smaller clubs to allow this to happen.

If they copy the music industry model, revenue could end up going up as could attendance. Cheaper content and more availability (e.g. all 3pm matches on a Saturday) means potentially more people watching and the side effect could be an increase in demand for match tickets, not a decline (at least in the Prem....)

As Buxton points out, a big issue will be about who owns the content that is streamed and where the revenue goes. Presumably the NFL or NBA have already cracked this one though?

http://www.businessinsider.com/music-in ... 014-6?IR=T" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sportsmania, etc aren't based in the UK (or at least their servers aren't) if they have any intelligence.

Sky, Virgin, BT, etc will only be blocking people in the UK from accessing them, they're not taking down the actual servers. If you use a VPN then that bypasses that blocking (the ISP can't see what you're accessing).

It's similar to sites like the pirate bay (do people still use torrents?). You can't access it in the UK but use a VPN and you can still get on there.

The next step for the Premier League will be to start tackling these servers at the source but that is much harder work as it is a multinational operation (Kim Dotcom and Megaupload is probably the most recent high profile example).

Can someone recommend a good VPN?

One thing that ISP's can do (and I'm almost certain that some of them are already starting to do this) is throttle VPN traffic to a speed that's almost unusable for streaming media content.

So, your ISP sees some IPSec or OpenVPN traffic leaving your network, and they throttle the speed down to 1Mbps or 2Mbps, and then good luck streaming your content.

ISP's won't admit to this, but I've seen several instances where this seems to be the case.

Tall Paul wrote:Can someone recommend a good VPN?

expressvpn and ipvanish seem the 2 most mentioned I have seen

Ultimately Sky revenues will have to reduce from sport subscription. In turn football broadcasting revenues will reduce at some point.

I've just taken out a subscription with IP Vanish and got it for around a £5 a month. Used coupon code FIRETV25.

It's not just about having a decent subscription package though, most people in the UK don't want to watch the top 5 or 6 teams every weekend at odd hours.

Trying to access their own team live at 3pm on a Saturday is the reality. The Premier League so not allow watching real 'live' football so this problem will continue to exist.

It isn't only Sky that has feeds.

If you are using a VPN, I'd advise getting a decent router and running the VPN on that, rather than through the device like a Kodi box. Most Kodi boxes don't have the processing grunt to use a VPN effectively, whereas a router configured with a custom firmware (like AsusWRT-Merlin) handles it all so much better. It also means you can easily route all your internet traffic through a VPN should you wish.

JohnMcGreal wrote:One thing that ISP's can do (and I'm almost certain that some of them are already starting to do this) is throttle VPN traffic to a speed that's almost unusable for streaming media content.

So, your ISP sees some IPSec or OpenVPN traffic leaving your network, and they throttle the speed down to 1Mbps or 2Mbps, and then good luck streaming your content.

ISP's won't admit to this, but I've seen several instances where this seems to be the case.

I think you have it there JMcG.

JohnMcGreal wrote:
So, your ISP sees some IPSec or OpenVPN traffic leaving your network, and they throttle the speed down to 1Mbps or 2Mbps, and then good luck streaming your content.

ISP's won't admit to this, but I've seen several instances where this seems to be the case.

If they start messing about to that extent, change your VPN port to OpenVPN TCP Port 443

dushanbe wrote:If they start messing about to that extent, change your VPN port to OpenVPN TCP Port 443

You've totally lost me there What does that mean and how would it help?

I tried to put Kodi on my in laws firestick at the weekend and couldn't open the webpage to download it. I assume Sky have put a stop on those sites. I think I'll try to put it on through my plusnet at home. I'm still getting everything through ManiaHD without any issues.

You could use a VPS.

Private Internet Access is the VPN I've used for years. Has a mobile app so you can install it on your phone/tablet for when you're using public wi-fi (you really shouldn't use public wi-fi without a VPN), a simple PC app and even a Chrome extension. Gets decent speeds (upwards of 100Mbps).

I haven't heard of ISPs over here crippling VPNs yet, given the many legitimate uses of a VPN I can't see that being too popular but I could imagine an option where you have to pay the ISP more .

Running a VPN does take some processing power so running it on a router is an option. A few things to be aware of though, you'll need a decent router (you're probably looking at £100 up for something that can cope with high speeds) and certain websites don't like certain VPNs (BBC iplayer, netflix, amazon video, the login page for virgin trains strangely, etc) so you need to look at whitelisting those.

Reminds me of that time my local clothes shop started tagging jeans and I couldn't just walk out of the shop without paying for them anymore. If they'd make them cheaper it wouldn't be an issue!!

Perhaps a silly question to those in the know but when you have paid for a VPN what do you actually have to do then?
Do they send you a code or something that you have to input somewhere?

The Enclosure wrote:Perhaps a silly question to those in the know but when you have paid for a VPN what do you actually have to do then?
Do they send you a code or something that you have to input somewhere?

You register, then just log in and choose which country you want to be a resident of. Loads of youtube clips showing how they work.

If you run a vpn through the router, do you have to turn it on / off via a pc? I have mine on the android box so no need to log on to a pc to control it.

Thank you Claretdom....sounds like a breeze .

FulledgeClaret wrote:Unless Sportsmania pay Sky they will be a target this season and could find themselves firmly in the firing line with them making money from sky content, from what I have read at the end of last season they were testing ways to quickly identify and take down illegal streams along with some new encryption methods hence the death of cardsharing and they will be ready to roll that out season. As said above a vpn won't help much as they seem to be mainly going after the streams at source by shutting servers down not just blocking IP's.
Its still a good idea to have a VPN they could also be looking into ways to identify and cut off peoples connection to the internet if they are using kodi boxes or iptv services to access copyrighted content not sure how this would work or if this is just scare tactics.

They do seem to be cottoning on that the best way to combat it is not only make it harder to get for free but also make it more affordable with the new sky sports packages where you pay for the sports channels you want.

They dont just offer Sky streams. There are multiple links for the same game

I've paid for IPTV subscription but it's on my smart TV. How do I get a VPN to work with this? Just incase

dushanbe wrote:If they start messing about to that extent, change your VPN port to OpenVPN TCP Port 443

How on earth do you do that?

Can you share IP vanish passwords with family or will my account be shutdown?

burnmark wrote:Can you share IP vanish passwords with family or will my account be shutdown?

You can have up to 5 devices connected at same time

NordVPN works well on android and very easy to install. About £6 a month.
I was with BTguard but it suddenly got very complicated for some reason.

Just wait while the football season starts and see if you can find a server that isn't over-subscribed at weekends.

Vpn unlimited by keep solid inc. Download off playstore. Sign up on website £30 per year. Sign in on device. Bingo.

Just tried tuning in to tonight's games via SportsNation only to discover it doesn't appear to be working. Most irritating! Has anybody else experienced this?

Sportsmania worked perfect 1080hd

UltimateMania worked perfect HD