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BBC iPlayer to leave beta, ridiculous DRM lives to fight another day
Until today, the entire project has been Windows-only, with Mac and Linux support missing despite having been much-debated - and required at some stage due to the BBC's remit for platform independence. As expected, the BBC is starting a new beta phase today with the introduction of a '7-day catch-up' online streaming service via Adobe Flash player to cater for all three platforms.
Whilst a seeming win for all U.K. residents, the fact remains that the BBC iPlayer is a blot on an increasingly DRM-free future. In the most recent episode of This Week in Tech, ardent DRM campaigner Cory Doctorow gives a truly excellent break-down of the iPlayer fiasco (the fun starts at 33m30s in). In short, his arguments hinge on the fact that "the BBC spends millions on blanketing the country in unencrypted digital copies of programmes' which can easily be recorded and viewed (or illicitly shared) at your leisure. Yet the BBC and rights holders' concerns over piracy in a single new mode of transmission are so great that, to paraphrase Doctorow, 'they're trying to add another inch of steel to the door of a safe, where the rest of the sides are made of toilet paper'.
Despite the fact that there are only '10,000' U.K. residents using the £130 million ($266 million) project's Windows-only client, the BBC is moving it out of beta later this month: on Christmas Day, of all days. The iPlayer remains a U.K.-only product due to the BBC's publicly-funded status. (In other words, the Brits have already paid for this content, have you? Now stop complaining).
[Via MacWorld UK]
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsJamesDec 13th 2007 11:16AM
Man, you guys should just replace your government with a full representative democracy enshrining basic constitutional freedoms already and stop with the state-funded, state-controlled (very, very left-leaning) media already.
But please keep sending us Britcoms, those shows kick ass.
Simon WakefieldDec 14th 2007 4:39AM
Its not really state funded per say. The point of the licence fee is that its not directed funded by the government and as such can never be used as a governmental propaganda tool.
As for the DRM issue, I really dont see the problem. The DRM is largely there to prevent those outside the UK who dont pay the licence fee from freely watching the content. Its much the same as what we see on hulu, the network sites and services like joost which prevent those of us in the UK watching the US shows
hazardDec 13th 2007 10:48PM
How "representative" is the US government where [at best] only 60% of the population votes? .. that's ignoring the controversies and irregularities that occur in each Presidential election.
Cronyism occurs in any [every] organisation.
Either the BBC already had a lot of tech/skills invested in WMV and were not willing to move to more appropriate format or MS is bankrolling the whole affair. We need some inside info ..
ThwartedEffortsDec 14th 2007 5:06AM
Hm, basic constitutional freedoms... smoked any Cuban cigars recently, James? Always enjoyable to read the rantings of poor deluded souls who've never actually looked at the world outside their ZIP code, just seen it in passing on Fox News.
On the subject of the iPlayer, I uninstalled mine not an hour ago. It's a huge ungainly mess and I'm shocked to think they've actually released it -- I thought they were going to bury it!
ToddDec 13th 2007 11:22AM
http://www.torrents.co.uk/
Bob JonesDec 13th 2007 11:32AM
We have democracy ... in fact I think you'll find this is where the Westminster system started, but then again it might be America, forgive me.
State-controlled? Then how come it doesn't trumpet the government's horn? How can it be very, very, left leaning yet be the mouthpiece of the government which has followed the U.S. into every warzone in the world during the last 30 years ... I fail to see how it can be both.
As for freedom, watch Fox News instead ...