Commercial Establisment

[bgilga]

I Am Considering Buying A Bar And I Would Use D* As My Main Tv Service. I Was Wondering If It Would Be Legal To Hook Up An Fta Dish To Get Some Off The Wall College Football And Basketball Games? Thanks For Your Time.

 

[Mr Tony]

sure why not

There are resteraunts/bars out there that have FTA systems for hockey games and other college games.

 

[mikekohl]

Technically, there is a legal line that is crossed when showing television in a commercial establishment such as a bar. Bar owners are one of the reasons that sports telecasts have mostly been scrambled. They are getting commercial gain (more punters buying beer) from the signal coming out of the sky, and it would be considered a "public performance". That's the reasoning behind individual and commercial rates for subscription signals, and while it may not seem illegal to show a college game in a small bar---an A-hole lawyer could come knocking on the door someday and you will have little defense to offer. Unless your bar clientele are trusted locals that would beat the crap out of anyone trying to deny them a chance to see such a telecast, there is the odd chance that you could have legal troubles from a "stranger" visiting your establishment and observing what's on the screen. FTA is a great hobby, and what you do in the privacy of your home is nobody's business--but a public place such as a drinking establishment has a completely different set of rules, if you want to check into what may officially be allowed.

 

[greyskies]

Hey I resemble that remark

Please refrain from identifying my brethren as A-holes, B-holes, C-holes or any other holes. I have been an attorney licensed by the Supreme Court of the State of Florida since October 1988. I have been into this FTA hobby for approximately 1.5 years. I do not take kindly to your derogatory comments regarding my brothers and sisters out there trying to earn an honest living so that we can afford to make purchases to upgrade our dish, lnbs, receivers, motors, etc.

Just kidding, but I really am one.

greyskies in Sunny South Florida

 

[tdti1]

I Am Considering Buying A Bar And I Would Use D* As My Main Tv Service. I Was Wondering If It Would Be Legal To Hook Up An Fta Dish To Get Some Off The Wall College Football And Basketball Games? Thanks For Your Time.

You should get a big Ku dish so the rain will not cut the games out on your DTV.

 

[mikekohl]

I've got friends that are lawyers, so please don't take that slap against a few of them as a condemnation of the profession. It's just that "the establishment" has lots of money invested in keeping things in their court (bad pun), and a poor bar owner that takes a short cut financially to get some of these telecasts on his screens may eventually have some challenges about misuse or unauthorized use of such programming for a commercial gain.
I saw no reason to let the original poster believe that this was a risk-free idea, because it could end up costing some money later. Better forewarned than surprised!

 

[bgilga]

Maybe I Should Explain My Self Further. I Am Not Looking For Free Feeds Of Notre Dame, Florida St., Etc. I Would Be Looking For Lehigh Or Youngstown, Navy. Teams Like That. Some High School Kids From My Area End Up At Div 1-aa, 2, And 3 Schools. I Was Just Wondering If This Would Be Legal To Show Thses Games. As I Said I Would Use D* As My Main Tv Provider For Nfl, Nhl, Ncaa. I Absolutely Do Not Believe In Signal Theft, I Just Want To Know If I Could Get In Trouble With An Fta System.