"How do you like them apples"

View full size photo »

Zuffa officials have recently announced that it will be open season on people who pirate their product.

In that context the Boston Herald is reporting that The Draft, a local bar in Allston, Massachusetts, and its owner are being sued by the UFC for illegally broadcasting UFC 104 without purchasing it. Zuffa is seeking $640,000 in damages, plus legal costs.

The bar allegedly used a laptop hooked to a television to show UFC 104. 

If a party would like to purchase a UFC pay-per view for commercial use, e.g., a sports bar, they are required to pay a commercial fee. In other words the UFC needs to make sure that the bar is paying for all the people who are freeloading and watching the event there.

But The Draft's legal representation says that this is all a big mistake.

"A patron walked into the establishment and . . . downloaded a paid event on their own laptop without any knowledge or permission of the establishment," attorney Tammy Arcuri said.

Both parties' statements agree upon the broadcast being hooked to a television from a computer but from that point we don't know anymore facts.

(Is it illegal to purchase a PPV online and put it on your own television?)

What really interests WKR about this story is how it encapsulates the coming changes in technology and how that affects the pay-per view model. Technology is advancing so quickly that business models will need to have the ability to adapt in order to survive.