party off

Initial disclosure: I hate football, and couldn't care less about it. That said, intellectual property arguments continue to become less "intellectual" and more... what's the scientific term for "horseshit"? The NFL has sent cease-and-desist letters to Las Vegas venues that would host for-pay Super Bowl parties (Yahoo News, az central).

In determining whether an event violated the NFL's copyrights, the league considered the location's size, whether TV screens were larger than 55 inches and whether people had to pay to get in.
Some hotels have scrapped party plans entirely, while others are scrambling to accommodate the estimated 274,000 visitors expected to come to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend.

In other words, as long as the place has crap equipment, and not providing the sport as a central event, the NFL isn't going after them. But isn't the attendance at the parties, of which the NFL claims to have only recently become aware, something that a paying consumer market wants? And if the NFL isn't providing it, how is it they are able to shut down other people's efforts to the same? The Super Bowl is a sell out event, even though it is nationally broadcast for free. Vegas has found a market for taking publicly broadcast materials and turning them into a big event. The people attending are not being tricked into attending; it's highly likely they know that the event is viewable for free. The issue then turns to when is right or wrong for the NFL to dictate the display of their content. (via fark)