From CBSSportsLine.com The No Fun League is at it again. After fining Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher $100,000 last spring for wearing the wrong hat at a Super Bowl media event, the league is stepping up its effort to control everything we see, hear and think. The NFL has rolled out a brand-new set of media rules designed to protect the league's good name -- and Grand Canyon-deep pockets. Among the decrees is a policy limiting media organizations to showing no more than 45 seconds a day of video on their Web sites from a team's practice sessions, interviews and news conferences. The clips can be posted for no more than 24 hours and cannot be archived. The site must provide a link to NFL.com or the official team Web site. Translation: Smile and go to NFL.com. The NFL says it must protect its media assets in the digital age. "The owners want to protect what they feel is an important part of their business," NFL spokesman Corry Rush said. Understandable. One of the things that makes this country great is that everyone has the right to build and protect their financial empire. But let's not forget who keeps the NFL's empire afloat: the fans. And almost all of the league's estimated $5 billion in annual revenue comes from fans forking over $100 for game tickets, $10 for programs, $150 for team jerseys -- not to mention the beer and cars they purchase after soaking in a full Sunday of subliminal television advertising. To some, this is just the latest example of a pro sports league biting the hands that feed it. "It reminds me of the road the music industry has gone down," said Wendy Seltzer of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. "Any business that tries to limit exposure of its product and force customers to a specific site runs the risk of alienating those people." Story goes on here
