I don't think it's that simple Chirpy. Where there's a beam, there's a stream. There are loads of ways to grab content out of the air. Technology will probably make it ever easier to do so, of course Sky will fight with all their business and legal brains, but it's very hard to stop the gaps that continually appear in their defences. Already most independent pubs who want to simply ignore Sky, as LDL says, they just show the 'foreign stuff' and are quite open about it, even pre this ruling. I don't think Sky will have the power to control all worldwide transmissions.
Once they can successfully marry together the net and HDTV, so that it's possible to obtain a top quality picture on yor TV from internet download, then SKY will certainly struggle to keep the genie in the bottle.
You are absolutely right, but they do have control on who they supply content to. If they feel partners are not taking steps to protect their investment, (mainly by not selling to territories that Sky are interested in, like here,) chances are they will pull the plug. A supplier will have to balance the advantage of having Sky programming, and selling to the already dwindling number of pubs (52 closing in the UK every week, thats over 2,500 a year.) There will always be people on the fringes who have an edge when technology's involved, but as with most things, for the overwhelming majority of the time, the man gets paid and we do the paying.
Thanks for replies guys, we'll see how things go. I don't expect either Sky or the Prem to go 'bust' over this. Independent pubs will carry on 'going foreign', probably even more so now after this ruling. As to the big chains, that's going to be a very interesting call, if any of them go for the chance, encouraged by the ruling. As internet and HDTV become more intertwined, the technology battles will become more intense. How the domestic consumer will react, I wouldn't like to call it, because, for example lots of families have Sky for all sorts of reasons, movies, news, cricket, whatever, besides football. Sky, plus other providers like Virgin using Sky content are deeply embedded in our way of life now, providing a range of linked services like tV, phone, broadband, etc.
