By Asher Moses
Australians dismayed at the Nine Network's decision not to broadcast Australia's first three Cricket World Cup matches are watching them live and illegally over the internet.
It appears to be the only option left for cricket fans without Foxtel who want to tune in to the live action.
The website Streamick.com aggregates hundreds of live TV feeds from channels across the globe, including Britain's Sky Sports 1, which is scheduled to show almost all of the World Cup matches.
It can be accessed for free by anyone with an internet connection.
Nine holds the TV, internet and radio rights to broadcast the Cricket World Cup in Australia, according to the ICC Cricket World Cup website. But it has decided not to show any matches from the group stages - including Australia's clashes with Scotland, Netherlands and South Africa.
A Nine spokeswoman said the network did not have the rights to show the group matches.
"As soon as they've finished the group one stage and it goes to [the] Super Eight series, that's when we'll be joining the broadcast," she said.
However, Nine is sub-licensing its television rights to Fox Sports Australia, which plans to broadcast every match live through Foxtel.
The ABC has separately secured rights to broadcast some match coverage over the radio.
Sydneysider Neerav Bhatt, 25, was so dismayed at Nine's decision not to show Australia's group matches that he published instructions on how to watch them illegally, using Streamick.com, on his blog.
"I think they've really underestimated how annoyed people are, because there is actually no legal option left," Bhatt said in a telephone interview.
Bhatt, an IT consultant, said a number of his friends had approached him seeking legal ways to watch the matches, but he could not find a solution.
He said that, even if he now wanted to sign up to Foxtel in order to watch the matches on Fox Sports, "Foxtel won't connect people before the end of the World Cup.
"Channel Nine's just profiteering and onselling the games to Foxtel instead of doing it themselves."
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited owns Nine, a 25 per cent stake in Foxtel and 50 per cent of Fox Sports.
The free live internet broadcasts will add to the array of online distractions facing workers over the next eight weeks.
Lost productivity as a result of employees jumping online for cricket updates during the day is expected to cost businesses millions of dollars.
Computer security firm Marshal - which produces tools that allow employers to block certain sites on their network - has estimated the cost would be $371 million.
Its figure is based on one in 10 of Australia's 10 million employed people, with an average wage of $27.30 an hour, spending 30 minutes a day catching up on the World Cup. The tournament will run over 27 working days.