BuzzFeed regrets running a pirated stream of 'Monty Python' on Facebook Live
UPDATE Dec. 9, 2016 5 p.m. PT: Buzzfeed confirmed it ran a pirated stream of Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Facebook Live in a statement Friday. The company said it regrets the error. The full statement:
"We were authorized to stream Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Facebook. Unfortunately, when we discovered that the authorized subtitles had formatting issues, we inadvertently replaced only the text portion of the file with another version in error that was linked to the piracy site. We regret this and will ensure it doesn't happen again."
Original story:
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Piracy may have just gone mainstream.
BuzzFeed showed Monty Python and the Holy Grail on its Facebook page Thursday and it looked like it may have pulled a torrented stream from The Pirate Bay.
BuzzFeed announced its partnership with Seeso, a comedy-focused subscription service from NBCUniversal, to stream the film Thursday starting at 7 p.m. ET. The stream included live commentary from actors Eric Idle and John Cleese.
Everything went smoothly in the stream. But the last few seconds of the stream showed a link to http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud, giving nod to the potential owner of what could be an illegal stream.
BuzzFeed, Seeso and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The stream has apparently since been removed, but Mashable took screenshots shortly after the broadcast.
Facebook opened its live video platform earlier this year to allow partners to pull from various sources to show video rather than simply broadcasting from the app itself (Mashable is a partner).
The use case opens up a can of worms. For instance, Matt Navarra of The Next Web pointed to warnings some companies received for labeling pre-recorded content as live and running graphics-only polls.
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BuzzFeed's stream of Monty Python had an average-minute audience of 10,000 viewers, according to social media marketing company Delmondo.
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
