Viacom blocks online episodes from Online Viewers in DirecTV fight - Polidicks

[quote=Associated Press]NEW YORK (AP) - Viacom is ramping up its war with DirecTV over how much it is paid for shows including "The Daily Show" and "SpongeBob SquarePants." Unfortunately, its latest tactic is causing some collateral damage. Viacom on Wednesday shut off access to full-length episodes on its own websites such as MTV.com and ComedyCentral.com to all visitors, even those who have no stake in the dispute. The move was apparently in response to DirecTV telling its 20 million U.S. subscribers where on the Internet they could find programs they could no longer watch on TV. Viacom's sites are now taken over by a video ad that informs visitors about the dispute and prompts people to call DirecTV to complain. Some areas of the websites that once offered full episodes now say "Full episodes are currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience." Certain episodes of Viacom programming, such as two-week-old episodes of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were available online at Hulu. Others, like "Jersey Shore," were blocked. DirecTV Group Inc. stopped carrying channels owned by Viacom Inc. late Tuesday because of a contract dispute. They include MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and Comedy Central. DirecTV says Viacom was asking for a 30 percent increase in rates. Viacom says its latest agreement was made seven years ago and that DirecTV is now paying less than its competitors. The two companies blamed each other for the shutdown. Many DirecTV subscribers took to microblog site Twitter to vent. "Viacom" and "Tosh," which references the Comedy Central show "Tosh.0," were trending topics on Twitter. Courtney Mattison, a 22-year-old bank employee in Rutland, Vt., tweeted that the two companies were "acting like children over a business deal." In an interview, she said she felt caught up in a dispute that shouldn't concern her, and it was costing her a couple hours of reality TV per night. "I just want what I'm paying for, and if I can't get it from DirecTV, I'm happy to get it elsewhere," Mattison said.[/quote] [url="http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21207445&nid=1011"]Source[/url]. Dick move, Viacom.

Viacom is a corporate bully.

Wow, are you kidding me, I REALLY can't stand this company. Even moreso now.

companies like these need to realize bullshit like this fucks customers over like no other

[QUOTE=Protocol7;36742166]companies like these need to realize bullshit like this fucks customers over like no other[/QUOTE] they don't give a fuck how angry you get, in their mind all that matters is profit.

If DirecTV can hold out this will fuck Viacom hard.

I still remember when Viacom was going at YouTube at their copyright bullshit, wanting access to the entire database of YouTube users including email, password, released videos, IP addresses etc.. They're the biggest assholes company related.

I've seen around 5 DirectTV service vans and trucks driving around today, and 2 of them in front of people's houses were clearly uninstalling the service. DirectTV is getting fucked either way.

Viacom really are going full retard aren't they?

Viacom's throwing a tantrum at this point, if DirecTV holds out it's gonna make Viacom look like even bigger shitheads than they are right now

And yet pirates can access anything they want whenever they want.

Viacom are raging assholes. People should feel good about torrenting their products.

[QUOTE=WeekendWarrior;36743147]Viacom really are going full retard aren't they?[/QUOTE] They went full retard yesterday when they started sending out the propaganda videos.

Viacom is setting their own house on fire right now. What the hell are they thinking?

[QUOTE=Fangz;36743842]They went full retard yesterday when they started sending out the propaganda videos.[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ElzrVvvu5A[/media]

Fuck you, Viacom.

I remember when they removed Meet the Scout for copyright infringement From Valve's channel

One of them will cave in eventually, Viacom loses its $500million a year contract with Direct T.V that it had before (and now they want 30% more :v: ). Viacom is trying to get more money because there shows have been losing viewers and thus less profitable. Viacom to me seems to be desperate. Sources say that DirectTV will add Viacoms channles as an option that you pay extra for.

Fuck it, I don't even care about Viacom anymore. Let them take their shit away from us, it'll fuck them in the ass REAL soon.

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;36742317]I still remember when Viacom was going at YouTube at their copyright bullshit, wanting access to the entire database of YouTube users including email, password, released videos, IP addresses etc.. They're the biggest assholes company related.[/QUOTE] That lawsuit never went away, Viacom is still trying to get an angle on Youtube in court.

This is why a single company shouldn't preside over multiple content networks.

That Maddison lady that's quoted in the article is a dumbass in my opinion. Lady it isn't DirecTV's fault that you can't watch your stupid tv shows. It's Viacom's fault. If DirecTV had agreed to Viacom's ridiculous price hike you'd be bitching about how much DirecTV raised your bill to pay for it

I have DirecTV and while it upsets me that I can no longer watch Futurama or Workaholics, I will not succumb to Viacom's bullying.

Like I said before, Viacom is full of Via-cunts.

I don't understand what they gain from cutting off access on their own sites, where people not even related to this scuffle can't access it. That's just dumb.

[QUOTE=Tigster;36745493]I don't understand what they gain from cutting off access on their own sites, where people not even related to this scuffle can't access it. That's just dumb.[/QUOTE] It is a response to the DirecTV Promises mini-site's directory to where to watch shows online. Viacom just doesn't realize in their tiny brains that pulling it offline doesn't just affect DirecTV users.

[QUOTE=Fangz;36745525]It is a response to the DirecTV Promises mini-site's directory to where to watch shows online. Viacom just doesn't realize in their tiny brains that pulling it offline doesn't just affect DirecTV users.[/QUOTE] This is all just so unbelievably dumb. Nobody is really getting hurt by this except consumers.

[QUOTE=Tigster;36745541]This is all just so unbelievably dumb. Nobody is really getting hurt by this except consumers.[/QUOTE] Hello Capitalism, nice to meet you! My name is Tigster.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;36745555]Hello Capitalism, nice to meet you! My name is Tigster.[/QUOTE] Understand, this is by no means something I've never seen before, I'm just making an observation, I apologize if it was too obvious for your tastes.

[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;36745621]It's a shame people are blaming DirecTV for this, I had to talk my mom out of calling them to complain. Can people not read those Alert channels?[/QUOTE] People will follow the network they love instead of the people who host it, I feel sorry for DirecTV reps on the other line having to hear peoples complaining