Streaming, SpectateFaker and PA

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by zgrssd, March 2, 2015.

  1. zgrssd

    zgrssd Active Member

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    I am on some other platforms, inlcuding LoL.
    One issue with streaming players games has popped up, aka the "Spectate Faker" case:
    http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/n...pectatefaker-what-we-learned-and-what-well-do

    Specifically the question was who owns the rights at the spectated games. And if one person has legal rights to NOT have his games streamed.

    Background:
    Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok is a Korean LoL player, part of the group/guild SK Telecom T1.
    In Korea, having your games exlusively cast on streaming platforms is an important source of income for pro-players.
    Faker (along with other teammates) made a deal for exclusive streaming with the Platform Azubu. Neither side was aware that the rights on the gameplay were with RIOT (according to thier ToS).

    Now enter the twitch channel "Spectate Faker".
    The owner cast every single ranked game of Faker and nothing but his games.
    This did not make Azubu happy for obvious reasons. Wich in turn did not make Faker happy.
    And sparked a whole lot of debate about if a player has the right to refues systematic streaming of his or her games on specific platforms/by specific persons.

    It is not about ocassionally beign streamed (you just happen to be in that game).
    It is not about anonimized streaming (as the Salty Teemo Stream http://www.twitch.tv/saltyteemo).

    This is about one player being systematically streamed and having harm from that:
    "This is a precedent that doesn’t just apply to pro players - or to monetary or brand loss. Imagine a scenario in which a bronze player was targeted by an unwanted stream that meant all of his ranked games were broadcast to a crowd who made fun of him and his gameplay - all against his will. ‘Harm’ could come in several forms - emotional, material, or otherwise. We think that having your gameplay systematically streamed in a way that has the potential to harm or distress you isn’t just something you should put up with as a consequence of playing ranked games. Or imagine a stream targeting a female player, where a narrator or automated system harasses her and comments on every move she makes in every game she plays online."
    Last edited: March 2, 2015
  2. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    Who cares about legal rights, just turn of twitch? xD I admit I didn't read the wall of text. Is there some way to "force spectate" players in LOL against their own will?
    in that case: lol ;)

    Now I hope your full text explains how this relates to PA. ?
  3. zgrssd

    zgrssd Active Member

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    Just updated it.
  4. thetrophysystem

    thetrophysystem Post Master General

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    This sounds like it isn't PA's problem though. Sounds like it is twitch's problem between two people invoking legal rights in their own legal bounds.
  5. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    I still don't get it. Does this mean it really is technically possible to stream the gameplay of a given player against their will in LOL ?
    If so that is horrible for people who play LOL I guess.

    Also wtf at riot for going on about their ToS. A player should have the right to not be streamed and watched at their own will. This naturally implies that a player may decide to only stream using a certain platform.

    Also why PA general?
  6. zgrssd

    zgrssd Active Member

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    It is even easier in PA.
    It got the ability to start a spectator game via a link/command line.
    Finding every ranked game by a single player is not hard either.


    They had to solve issues about Ranked games being streamed. Specifically "can I stream ranked game X?"
    The simple solution was to say "RIOT owns the rights on your games", so they could then make a declaration "you can stream every ranked game".
    And apparently it never even became an issue before that.

    Now PA has this rules about streaming games:
    http://www.uberent.com/canistreampublishandmonetizevideos/
    Could I refuse to being featured in such a video? Would the maker of that video have to ask for my consent about me being featured in it?

    I have not read the ToS for PA (ever), so what exactly are the rules about streaming games with other players in them?
    Who owns the "right" on a game you played in, if the replay is avalible on the Ubernet?
  7. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    Ah wait we are talking about replays, not first person "playing right now" stuff?
    That imho is a difference. Replays of games you have played are much less personal to me than a direct live view of how I play.
    So a replay of me playing isn't related to my "personal rights" imho. I have no right hiding it from anybody. "Playing the game online in ranked" is something I do in public. Ranked games are done to prove what I can do in the game and such proof naturally is public and I have no rights on it. However I have the legal possibility to obfuscating that it was me playing for tactical reasons:
    On high levels of play in games like LOL or Starcraft players obviously might not want to make it easy to track their prefered strategies. The solution to that is simple: Half the top of the ladder are smurfs, often with undecipherable names. No need to care for legal stuff in that case.

    Private practice games are a different matter. In PA it indeed may be considered an issue that even private games create replay files. However you can easily disable the creation by loading server mods that break them or by loading the "allow update data"-cheat mod, which flat out disables replay creation I think. Or use a private server.
    But in reality competition in PA is far far away from this to matter.

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