If You Purchased MLB Game Downloads Before 2006, Your Discs/Files Are Now
Useless; MLB Has Stolen Your $$$ And Claims "No Refunds"
Great to see non-baseball sites like Boing Boing, Wired, Slashdot,
Techdirt and others posting about this. Links in comments.
***
2nd Update: Baseball Think Factory has publicized the discussion.
Update: Just got off the phone with a MLB customer service supervisor.
"MLB no longer supports the DDS system" that it once used and so any
CDs with downloaded games on them "are no good. They will not work
with the current system."
Great. Just effing great. ... As I told the supervisor, this is right
in line with how wrong-headed and stupid and ass backwards MLB does
everything.
I was told there is absolutely nothing MLB can do about these lost
games. Plus, they said my purchases were all "one-time sales" and thus
"there are no refunds".
No refunds? As Lee Elia would say: "My fucking ass!"
My info has been submitted to some other MLB department which will
review things and see what they can do about either getting me the
games I paid for or refunding my $280.45.
So if you have downloaded any games prior to 2006, get those discs out
and try to watch them ... then call MLB at 866-800-1275 and demand
they refund your money.
***
MLB continues to steal money from baseball fans who have downloaded
full games through its digital download service.
I have blogged about this problem twice this year -- April 5 and April
16.
Background: Beginning in 2003, MLB offered fans the chance to download
full games to their computer at $3.95 each. When you attempted to open
the media file -- either on your hard drive or after it was burned to
a CD -- it connected with a MLB.com webpage to obtain a license. Once
the license had been verified, the game would play.
From MLB's FAQ:
2. Why is a license used for my downloaded video?
All MLB.com Downloads are encrypted with Microsoft Digital Rights
Management technology. DRM security requires a valid license before
viewing the material. You must have Windows Media Player (version
10.0 or higher) downloaded on your machine to view downloaded
video.
3. What is DRM?
Digital Rights Management is a technology that allows for the
secure management of digital media. This security protects the
content provider from unauthorized distribution, viewing and use of
the material.
At some point during 2006, MLB deleted that essential webpage. Since
then, none of the videos that fans purchased will play.
FAQ:
7. Do I have to obtain a license every time I want to watch the
downloaded video?
No. When you first try to play the video, a license will be
distributed to you and stored by the player. Unless manually
deleted, the license will exist forever and will be used when you
try to watch the downloaded video on that machine. If you watch the
video on a different machine, another license will be required.
This is a lie. Once MLB deleted the essential webpage, none of my CDs
would play, even ones I had opened and watched previously.
Here is a screenshot (from last night) of what happens when I try to
play a CD with a downloaded game on it:
By deleting the webpage and making it impossible for fans to watch the
games they have paid for and downloaded, MLB has stolen $3.95 for
every game from every fan. That must runs into the tens of thousands
of dollars.
Since MLB started this download service, I have bought and downloaded
71 games -- many of them from the Red Sox's August-September 2004 hot
streak -- which works out to a total cost of $280.45 (plus the price
of the blank discs). Thanks to MLB, I now have nearly six dozen
coasters.
When I contacted MLB in April, the people I spoke with expressed
surprise at my predicament and claimed to have never heard of this
problem before (naturally!). They said that MLB was overhauling its
downloading system -- this was true -- and they told me to be patient
because even though they had never heard of anyone with this problem,
MLB was working on it.
More than six months have passed and nothing has changed. The
essential webpage is still gone and my games will not play. I tried
about 35 of them last night -- all with the same result.
And now MLB IS SELLING GAME DOWNLOADS AGAIN! Various 2007 playoff
games -- and other games -- are available for $1.99. MLB is still
using the DRM technology. Will the page fans use to watch these 2007
games be suddenly deleted in 2009?
Despite MLB's claim that I'm the only baseball fan on the face of the
Earth with this problem, I know there are other fans out there who
have been similarly ripped off -- because they read the April posts
and either commented or emailed me.
I'm asking that if you also have discs that are now useless, call MLB
at 866-800-1275 and complain.
It would also be helpful if some Boston or national sports media
picked up on this.
Diehard baseball fans have paid tens of thousands of dollars to MLB to
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