Filmon UK TV Streaming Service No Longer Free
Many people have been using Filmon for free access to some of the UK TV channels.
In fact we also use the filmnon service for our sister site uktvinspain.com
Filmon provided free streams for many UK TV channels.
BBC Olympic coverage blocked on Filmon streaming website
Filmon, the internet TV streaming service, is blocking access to BBC channels coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Olympic Committee will have requested (maybe via a legal injunction), that Filmon block channels on their streaming service showing Olympic coverage.
Euro 2016 coverage will no longer be available on filmon,the UK TV streaming website.
UEFA have requested that filmon “block” channels during Euro 2016 matches.
Attempting to watch a UK TV channels when outside the UK on filmon will result in an info screen.
This weeks satellite TV news – 6 March 2015
Our weekly round up of the latest satellite TV news, including news about Sky TV in Spain, Freesat in Spain, UK TV in Spain, Spanish TV in Spain, and Internet IPTV in Spain.
Latest news can be found at www.satandpcguy.com/blog
Aereo is a streaming service, that captures broadcast signals on miniature antenna’s and delivering these channels to customers, some who pay a subscription.
Filmon offers a similar service.
But today (Wednesday 25th June) the US Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that Aereo is violating the broadcasters’ copyrights by taking the signals without paying them.
The ruling is a victory for the major television networks, which had argued that Aereo’s business model amounted to a theft of their programming.
The ruling states, “given Aereo’s overwhelming likeness to the cable companies targeted by the 1976 amendments, this sole technological difference between Aereo and traditional cable companies does not make a critical difference here.”
One US Broadcsater said “We are pleased with today’s decision which is great news for content creators and their audiences,”.
Aereo started operations about two years ago and broadcasters, including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, were quick to go to court trying tio stop Aereo claiming that the technology violated copyrights.
World Cup matches on Filmons web and “affiliate” service are being geoblocked.
Users outside the UK trying to watch BBC and ITV coverage of World Cup matches are being presented with the following banner, saying the World Cup matches are unavailable due to restrictions imposed by FIFA.
In some cases the channel simply does not load.
Filmon say “Due to restrictions imposed by Fifa today, only people with a UK IP will be able to watch the World Cup. It was out of our control.”
It is thought, but not confirmed, that users of “XBMC” boxes, who can access these channels from other “non filmon” sources addons.
But it does beg the question, if FIFA can get their content geoblocked on Filmon, why can’t the actual broadcasters do so?
edit:
an email from filmon about the blocked coverage:
You should be getting ITV 1 right now, but it will be blocked during the transmission of World Cup matches. Unfortunately FIFA has requested for us to block all World Cup coverage on our UK channel streams. As a result we can only show World Cup coverage from UK channels to customers that have a UK IP address. While we’re aware that people may be going around the IP restrictions by obtaining a UK IP via VPN software such as Hotspot Shield or Expat Shield, this is beyond our control and we can’t encourage this or supply any help in setting it up.
Tomorrow (Thursday) and on Sunday, the German station ZDF will be streaming the matches and you should still be able to watch them on that channel if you don’t mind German commentary. This may change as well if FIFA requests it: www.FilmOn.com/channel/zdf
If you are receiving a “Subscription expired” or similar message while trying to watch ITV1 outside the UK, please note this is displayed in error and purchasing a subscription would not give you access to World Cup coverage. To rectify this error we would appreciate if you could forward a screen print of this issue so that we can reproduce and rectify.
Should you be having trouble viewing ITV1 right now, it will help us analyse your connection if you please perform the following three checks for us:
1. www.filmon.com/support/check – This tests your connection to FilmOn and gathers playback-relevant data about your client or browser. After this diagnostic check has finished, you will get a result link – shown above the results – which you can send back to us. If there is a problem with copypasting, the number at the end of the link will be enough.
2. www.speedtest.net – Here your overall connection is measured. Click “Begin Test” and – when it is done – “Share this result”, which allows you to copy the web result link and email it back to us.
3. It is also important for us to know if you experience performance problems on all channels or only on particular ones. Especially important regarding the UK channels is:
If you’re experiencing problems from “group A” (BBC1-4, ITV1-4, Channel 4 & 5)… are you at the same time noticing problems from “group B” (ITV1+ – ITV4+, Dave, More4, Really)?
Kind regards,
FilmOn.com Support Team
Looks like Filmon.com is suffering problems again, with no or little access being reported on the evening of Sunday 8th September 2013.
A flurry of posts on social media websites suggest loading issues, and no access to any streams, let alone UK TV streams.
Some blog reports suggest that this may be related to another batch of court injunctions by various broadcasters:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/when-will-courts-let-internet-tv-be-filmons-live-streaming-shut-down-dc
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57601633-93/tv-broadcasters-win-preliminary-injunction-against-filmon-x/
But then, filmon did this a few months ago, switched off for a few days, and then quietly came back on again.
Online TV provider FilmOn faces an uncertain future after a federal court in Washington DC granted a preliminary injunction brought by US broadcasters.
Television Stations argued that FilmOn X is “violating their exclusive right to public performance of their copyrighted works, which include local programs and some of the country’s most popular evening television shows”.
In a statement, broadcaster Fox said, “We are pleased, but not surprised, that the court recognised that the commercial retransmission of our broadcast signal without permission or compensation is a clear violation of the law. This decision should finally put the matter to rest, and will hopefully discourage other illegal services from attempting to steal our content.”
FilmOn, which also broadcasts in Europe, boasts 200 live TV channels, plus 500 video and audio podcasts from premium brands.
Update: 22.30 – looks like whatever it was is over, as it is all back up and running again. Maybe they had to remove some USA streams from the site to comply with the injunction….?
Internet television provider FilmOn.com has agreed a deal with Spanish state broadcaster TVE to stream an international version of the channel on a global basis.
The arrangement will see FilmOn become the first ever IPTV provider to enter into an agreement with TVE to stream the broadcaster’s content straight to PCs and smartphones on a revenue share basis.
It will enable FilmOn users around the world to access premium Spanish content regardless of which territory they are in at the time. TVE is the first European state broadcaster to embrace the world of digital in this way via FilmOn, which already boasts 500 other channels that are mostly under licence from private broadcasters.
It is unknown if this will be the actual TVE La1 or La2 channel, or simply the TVE International channel that is already available for free on many satellites.
More Filmon news:
Several USA broadcasters filed a lawsuit against filmon this week, and as a result, filmon has pulled all main USA TV channels from their service – leaving only a handful of local TV channels. (http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/alki-davids-filmon-ending-streaming-networks-in-dc/ ) – “Alki David, the founder of Internet TV streaming service FilmOn, has said he will remove the US’s major broadcast networks from the platform. David’s move follows a May 23 filing in the Federal District Court in Washington DC of an action against FilmOn and Aereokiller, with ABC, NBC and Fox claiming copyright infringement.”
So again, there is uncertainty about UK channels on filmon, as if the UK broadcasters follow suit, and are successful, then filmon broadcasting UK TV channels without permission, may also be removed… and may also affect the smart tv systems that use streams from filmon.
I have just seen a message from Filmon about why people in Spain are no longer able to watch UK TV channels on the filmon TV streaming service:
“Unfortunately we are no longer able to carry these channels. The only UK channels to be broadcast will be BBC1 and BBC Northern Ireland, ITV, Channel4 and Channel5. These will ONLY be available to view within the UK.”
UK TV channels that are currently no longer on Filmon include ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, Dave, Yesterday, Five USA, Five*, and Challenge.
Is this a result of the recent European Court ruling (http://satandpcguy.com/blog/2013/03/unauthorised-tv-live-streaming-breaches-copyright-rules-european-court/ ) about streaming TV channels and content without the channels permission?
So it may be that to watch filmon, and the UK TV channels they offer, you will need to subscribe to a UK VPN service, that “connects” your PC to a UK IP Internet server.
But then, if you are having a UK VPN service, why use filmon, when you can simply connect to the UK broadcasters own “iplayer” streaming services?
Or, even better, install a satellite dish, and a Freesat HD box (from 325 euros) and watch the UK TV channels like BBC ITV C4 with no subscription and in HD.
Update: 13 March 2013.
This notice appears at the top of “British channels” on filmon, which today has reinstated some of the UK TV channels. Although the message states that these channels should only be available to “their respective countries”, the UK channels are currently available to people outside the UK.
“Unfortunately due to a recent European court ruling, services such as ours havehad to restrict the viewing of certain channels to their respective countries, therefore the only UK TV channels available will be the 4 main terrestrial channels.”
Update 15th March:
Filmon have reinstated some of the UK TV channels. These are BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five. Not all channels that were previously on Filmon have returned. And despite their previous notice that UK TV channels would only be available to the UK, these UK TV channels are still available outside the UK.
Websites that retransmit live TV over the internet without permission from broadcasters are in breach of copyright, Europe’s highest court has ruled in a judgment with wide ranging implications.
The landmark ruling published on Thursday by the European court of justice (ECJ) means that dozens of sites showing live TV in the UK, including the London-based TVCatchup.com, must now get rights clearance from broadcasters.
Legal experts said the decision was likely to spark a renewed clampdown by rights holders against similar sites, many of which show live sport.
The case was brought by ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 against TVCatchup.com, which streams free-to-air shows from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
The ECJ decided that the website, which carries pre-roll advertising before shows, was in breach of a 2001 law that describes the original broadcasters as “authors” of the programming, giving them the exclusive right to approve or restrict its use.
“EU law seeks to establish a high level of protection for authors of works, allowing them to obtain an appropriate reward for the use of those works,” the ECJ said in its judgment.
“Television broadcasters may prohibit the retransmission of their programmes by another company via the internet.
“That retransmission constitutes, under certain conditions, a ‘communication to the public’ of works which must be authorised by their authors.”
An ITV spokeswoman said: “ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 welcome the judgment by the European court of justice. The judgment makes it clear that, subject to some limited defences, broadcasters and content producers should be able to prevent unauthorised streaming of free-to-air channels.
“We now look forward to the UK court’s implementation of this judgment. We reserve the right to pursue any site or service we believe to be infringing our copyright or using our content in an unlicensed, illegal capacity.”
However, the TVCatchup.com director, Bruce Pilley, insisted that the ruling would impact “barely 30%” of its 12 million registered users.
TVCatchup has argued that licences granted to ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 by media regulator Ofcom also apply to subsidiary channels such as its own service.
Pilley said: “TVCatchup.com is here to stay, we are not thinly disguised purveyors of filth, we remain Europe’s first and only legal internet cable service and the ECJ opinion affects only a handful of channels we carry.”
Until Thursday, it was unclear whether the unauthorised retransmission of live TV online was in breach of copyright laws.
Tony Ballard, a broadcast lawyer and partner at London law firm Harbottle & Lewis, said the ruling was significant.
He added: “It is one in an increasingly long line of decisions by which the court appears to be laying the foundations for a new European legal order in copyright and other forms of intellectual property.
“On the one hand, it is strengthening authors’ rights, such as by extending the concept of communication to the public, which subsumes the old broadcasting right, to encompass the activities of those who, like TVC, intervene in the distribution of broadcast services.
“On the other, it is limiting those rights in pursuit of single market principles by outlawing exclusive national licensing, extending the principle of exhaustion of rights to downloads, limiting the amount that copyright proprietors may charge as royalties and balancing owners’ rights against those of users.”
source: guardian.co.uk/media/2013/mar/07/tv-live-streaming
