Australian authorities have reportedly blocked online broadcasts of Australian horse races from being distributed in Asia.
Officials cited the need to honour an agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club as the reason for preventing access to the race day webcasts of TVN.
But racing insiders say the HKJC has made no request to block the service, complaining the move has left the way open for pirates, who are stealing the signal and redistributing it anyway.
Murray Bell, the Hong Kong-based racing expert and pundit, says there are now websites in the US and China that offer the Australian racing signal to members. He adds that the Chinese sites—set up by illegal bookmakers—are also picking up other racing from around the region and even offering voice over commentary in Mandarin Chinese.