There’s a concept in the law known as “jury nullification” [wiki], where a jurist or jury can ignore the judges orders, precedence, or sentencing guidelines in an attempt to write a grievious societal wrong. During tonight’s Superbowl broadcast, you are likely to experience something similar.
The NFL has a history of being aggressive in asserting their rights over intellectual property, from going after churches to asserting that they own the rights to “Who Dat!”.
The NFL’s social media policy for players specifically bans the use of social media during a game. The NFL has some restrictive terms regarding the “re-broadcast of its games”, including the size of screen you may use and the terms to which an establishment may air a game and make money. Technically speaking, you are not even allowed to ‘re-broadcast the game’ via Facebook or Twitter, but we all know that 1.) it’s not going to stop anyone and 2.) the NFL essentially is powerless to stop it. If anything Superbowl #44 will be the most social and online Superbowl ever.
The NFL has moderated somewhat this year, encouraging fans to use the Twitter ‘hashtag’ #SB44 when discussing the game, and has provided a page where those tweets and images will be aggregated. Since they are not editing or censoring any of the streamed content, be on the lockout for ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ and nipples covered with Chinese throwing stars.
Tags: #SB44, Facebook, football, National Football League, NFL, Super Bowl, Superbowl, terms of use, TOS, twitter, XLIV
