Mayweather-Pacquiao Ignites Streaming App Battle

The fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has triggered a battle over smartphone video streaming.

Revelations that dozens of smartphone users streamed the fight last weekend have raised questions about how new technologies can get around copyright restrictions imposed at sporting events and concerts.

There are no reliable figures, but thousands of people may have watched the fight via the Twitter-owned app Periscope, which allows any smartphone user to "broadcast" live video, and independent app Meerkat.

These viewers avoided paying $100 for the pay-per-view, as long as they did not mind reduced picture quality.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo appeared to boast about the feat when he tweeted at the end of the match, "And the winner is... @periscopeco."

It highlights the conundrum copyright holders could face if they lose control of their rights to fans with smartphone apps.

Similar questions arose last month when HBO sent notices to Periscope over piracy of its Game of Thrones series. These issues are expected to multiply as smartphone streaming gains popularity.

Under US copyright law, tech firms have a responsibility to remove copyrighted content "expeditiously" when notified of a violation. But at a live event, it's not clear how fast is fast enough.

Periscope founder Kayvon Beykpour said at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference Tuesday that his team was "completely prepared" for the fight, with a team of people scanning for emails about potential problems.

"We had 66 requests for takedown and we took down 30 of them, all in a matter of minutes," Beykpour said. The others could not be removed, he said, because they had ended by the time the team could deal with them. We were ready, we knew we had to be well-staffed."

On the broader question, Beykpour said the issue of copyright infringement is overblown because of the relatively poor quality of video on these feeds. "No one wants to watch Game of Thrones on Periscope," he said.

Sources familiar with the matter said the newer platforms like Periscope lack the systems adopted by YouTube and others where copyright owners are allowed to log in as special users and instantly remove content.

That means each request must be managed individually, which can often mean action is taken too late.

Top Rank, who promote Pacquiao, takes the issue seriously and is considering legal action.

"We are always pursuing, watching out for piracy," Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. "We think anyone redistributing unauthorised streaming is cheating. They don't have the right to distribute. We want a thorough report on how many streams are out there."