Could you ever watch iFollow legally in the UK?

Just having a debate about whether you could legally ever watch iFollow in the UK? I know during COVID we were allowed to watch them all, but what about pre-pandemic? I didn't think you were allowed to watch, particularly Saturday 3pm matches.

 

You can as long as it's not a saturday 3pm kick off and it's not being covered by a broadcaster such as Sky.

 

Cheers mate, is that even the case these days too?

 

I think so.

 

VPN use isn't illegal. If you use a VPN to purchase the ifollow service as if you live abroad that isn't criminal. The Saturday 3pm rule only applies to broadcasters.

 

I didn't know that, but that's not the argument really because I knew that we didnt use a VPN back then so know we didn't get iFollow via that method. One of us thinks that we couldn't get matched streamed over here as it may stop people attending matches. The other one of us thinks that we could always stream previously any match via paid subscription on iFollow.

 

Isn't it technically fraud? Obtaining a service by deception

 

Currently & pre-pandemic broadcasters cannot show either live domestic or foreign football between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on a Saturday. During the pandemic the Government suspended the legislation.

 

I believe this is incorrect.

Although there's a very blurred line between what is 'breaking the law' and what is 'breaking the rules'. There hasn't been a test case yet to set precedent, but there will be.

It is against the law/rules to broadcast UK football games in the UK (other than the FA Cup final) between 14:30 and 17:15 on a Saturday. 'Broadcast' no longer means kicking out electromagnetic waves via an antenna, it also refers to streaming via the internet or cable TV or whatever. Sky aren't allowed to stream games on a Saturday afternoon anymore than they're allowed to broadcast games via Satellite TV or send them down a fibre optic cable. Neither are iFollow.

This is where people get confused: It is not against the law/rules to use a VPN. It's perfectly legal. But it is against the law/rules to watch football on a Saturday afternoon. People believe that because a VPN is legal, you're allowed to do anything with it. You're not. It's got nothing to do with the VPN, it's the fact that you're watching a football game. You're just using a VPN as a tool to help you in those nefarious practices. It's not against the law to own a knife. But it against the law to stick that knife into someone's chest. It's not against the law to own a ladder. But if you prop that ladder up against someone's house, climb in their open bedroom window and nick all their gear, you're still committing a crime. A defence of 'It's perfectly legal to own a ladder' will not help you. A defence of 'It's perfectly legal to use a VPN' won't help you either if you're using it to access content that you're not supposed to.

What will happen going forward? I don't know, but I would imagine it will be iFollow who are prosecuted rather than the UK residents accessing the content. The law/rules tend to be directed at the broadcaster rather than the viewer* and it's iFollow who are allowing their content to be broadcast to UK residents. (*Unless it's the landlord of a pub or other public venue who is showing it.) iFollow (and other broadcasters (much bigger companies like Netflix are also affected by this)) will then have two options: Fold, or invest heavily in software that identifies VPN users so they can block access.

 

It seems that when you purchase ifollow you are confirming that "you are solely resident in the correct territory for your chosen subscription package". I'm not sure whether purchasing a subscription knowing that this isn't true this counts as fraud on the part of a hypothetical viewer, or just a breach of their ToS.

 

No, it's against the rules for broadcasters to transmit it, but it's not illegal for anybody to watch it. Sky or BT can't stream anything over the internet in the same way they can't transmit it over the air, but this doesn't apply to foreign broadcasters or services such as iFollow, and using a VPN to access these services isn't illegal. Breaching the terms of service for Netflix or iPlayer isn't criminal.

I'm not even sure it is against the law at all, I seem to recall the government being involved in lifting the restriction during the pandemic, but I an't find any written statute. Everything I come across online refers solely to a UEFA mandate, Article 48 - but UEFA definitely don't make laws.

 

So, it's never, ever been a possibility to watch Barnsley matches home or away (pandemic period excepted) via iFollow without using a VPN on a Saturday, but it was/is a possibility to do it at any other time?

 

A 'possibility' underplays it. You just can. On Tuesday you can spend £10 on the official website and watch the match. As you can for every midweek game.

 

There was a case a few years ago where a pub purchased a foreign satellite package and broadcast live matches on a Saturday afternoon.

If I remember correctly, it was said to be a grey area. The broadcasters didn't like it, but I don't think she'd technically done anything wrong (at the time).