Thou Shalt Not View The Super Bowl on a 56" Screen

theodp writes "For 200 members of the Immanuel Bible Church and their friends, the annual Super Bowl party is over thanks to the NFL, which explained that airing NFL games at churches on large-screen TV sets violates the NFL copyright. Federal copyright law includes an exemption for sports bars, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, but churches are out of luck. Churchgoers who aren't averse to a little drinking-and-driving still have the opportunity to see the game together in public on a screen bigger than 55 inches."

Comments

Re:Good luck with that, NFL

[Anonymous Coward]

Being someone who believes that all religion is a scam I am happy to see this - let the hypocrites miss out on their superbowl for all I care.

Also: Thou shalt not buttfuck little boys

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah CmdrTaco, that applies to you too.

Yeah, screw those churches!

[raehl]

Since most people are apparently too stupid to notice how the greedy bastards are taking away their freedoms, maybe this will wake more than a few of them up.

Oh wait, you meant the greedy bastards were the NFL?

Why?

Being a church is not a free pass to just do whatever you want. It might be a free pass to not pay taxes, but it doesn't mean you get to take someone else's show or movie and charge admission to watch it, anymore than it means your priest can borrow my car to run church errands without asking and then return it without even filling up the gas tank.

The NFL spends a lot of time, effort and money putting together a football league. If the church wants to use the NFL's football games to attract more members to the church, and charge the people coming to the party to pay for that outreach program, then the church can pay to use the NFL's programming.

You can't just violate someone else's copyright and then act like THEY'RE the asshole by playing the "But I'm a church!" card. Well, I suppose you can, and I guess it's sad that the "I'm a church!" card works in this country and the "I'm a college student!" card doesn't.

I wonder what would happen if churches started giving away free MP3's of popular songs.

Re:Good luck with that, NFL

[nmb3000]

I hope the NFL enforces this across America. Since most people are apparently too stupid to notice how the greedy bastards are taking away their freedoms, maybe this will wake more than a few of them up.

Suck it NFL, I'm going to use a 3.4" LCD in my projector. I'm only going to be projecting it onto a 150" screen, so is that okay? If not, you can SUCK IT.

Huh? I know it's popular around here to talk about how all America's freedoms are being stoled away by greedy, evil corporations and the dark over-government, but honestly WTF does that have to do with this?

Major sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, etc) have always been pretty strict about enforcing copyright and redistribution rights for their broadcasts. They even put up a big warning like the FBI warning shown at the start of movies. It is their property I suppose so that shouldn't be a big issue of contention.

So basically, the NFL told a church that they cannot redistribute the program to their members. As far as the TV size, I think they are pretty reasonable. After all, where should the line be drawn? 55 inches? 72 inches? Movie theater screens? If you bother to RTFA instead of going on about black helicopters you'll see these gems:

"There is a part of me that says, 'Gee, doesn't the NFL have enough money already?'" said Steve Holley, Immanuel's executive pastor.

Aww, poor guy. Personally I think record companies, many audio artists, software companies, movie studios, and Walmart all have too much money. That doesn't mean that stealing from them is okay.

Large Super Bowl gatherings around big-screen sets outside of homes shrink TV ratings and can affect advertising revenue, McCarthy said. "We have no objection to churches and others hosting Super Bowl parties as long as they...show the game on a television of the type commonly used at home," he said. "It is a matter of copyright law."

The "greedy bastards"!

"It's ridiculous," Whitehead said. "You can go into these stores now and buy 100-inch screens. The law is just outdated."

They just don't get it. Your family and even a large handful of friends can watch it on your 100-inch screen without problems. It's when you invite the entire neighborhood that the NFL/NBA/etc will get upset. Honestly, this isn't even worth a tempestinateapot tag. More like ignorantcrybabies maybe. It certainly warrants !news.

Re:Good luck with that, NFL

[Anonymous Coward]

oddly enough that's exactly what the nazis said to the jews.

Re:Good luck with that, NFL

[jeepmaster91]

hey, plover (150551) *, ur stupid, everyone should be able to watch the Superbowl wherever they want to, it shouldnt matter how they watch it.

Re:Cops? No. Lawyers, yes.

[tomhudson]

He railed against the money-changers, but not the slave owners.

He said that the meek would inherit the kingdom, but he didn't exclude slave owners

He said that those who kept his commandments would be okay, not anyone else. Of course, slave-owners, as long as they did what he said, got a free pass ... what an asshole.

He said "love thy neighbor as thyself" - but slaves, well, I guess technically, they're not your neighbour ...

He ranted against premarital and extra-marital sex, but not against slavery.

He said "keep my commandments" - why couldn't one of them have been to not own people? Simple - he was a coward and a con artist. Same as Jimmy Swaggart, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Mike Warnke, and the rest of them ... jesus was the original "Matchstick Man."

Remember - he said "I and my father are one." And we all know that god had no problem with "his people" enslaving others, raping them, committing genocide, etc. About King David - "a man after my own heart" - was also a murdering swine. Just like god himself, or so the so-called "good book" says.

How to become a "good" Christian in 20 easy steps.

1. Confess to all your friends, associates and church leaders that you love Jesus and intend to become His slave and that you will devote your life to Him. It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, just saying it will put you in a Christian mode.
2. Join a church, get baptized and attribute your conversion to the priest or minister. Gaze reverently into his eyes as he pontificates about the nature of God. Sighing every once and a while, or wiping a tear will guarantee their devotion. If you join a revival church, fall to the floor, shake your body, put up both hands and yell: JAYsus-ah! NEVER bring up the topic of sexual molestation to your priest, no matter how many boys or girls he may have poked.
3. Every Sunday, make sure you put a large sum of MONEY into the church's MONEY basket. Make sure that everyone in the congregation sees you giving MONEY.
4. When talking with your priest and religious friends, occasionally confuse something that they said with something that Jesus said. This will impress them and they will think more highly of you.
5. Read the Bible, but ignore the atrocities and concentrate only on what seems "good" to you. For instance, discard the parts where God kills firstborns, pregnant women, etc., and only keep verses such as "God is love." Its like taking a sugar coated bitter pill, but it will appear good and that's what counts here.
6. Learn a few basic Hebrew words and whenever you're in a religious discussion, mention them in the context of their original meaning and comparing them to the English version. This will impress others of your Biblical knowledge, even if you don't know squat about theology.
7. Rely on faith and believe in the Bible superstitions, regardless of how silly they may seem. Yes, even the talking donkey, unicorns, and the strolling on water part. Even if you don't believe in them, just pretend that you do; no one will be able to tell the difference.
8. Abandon all reason and critical thinking. This is imperative. You cannot become a good Christian if you question the Bible with reason or skepticism.
9. Smile a lot to everyone you see. Say you love them even when you hate their guts. You must pretend, at all costs, to love your worst enemies even if it kills them in the end.
10. Attempt to convert your unbelieving friends. Make an ass out of yourself to the point of getting them angry. Make sure you always keep smiling and tell them how much you love them. This will escalate their anger and leave you fully satisfied. If they persist, claim that they are in league with the Devil and only faith in Jesus can release them (make sure you keep smiling).
11. If anyone presents reasonable arguments against Christianity, simply go int

I can't believe this!

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, I can't believe you people are arguing over something as stupid and childish as sports.