BBC DRM – on demand
p2pnet news | DRM:- “Billed as the biggest change in the way viewers watch television in 40 years, the BBC launched an online service on Friday that allows people to download many programmes from the last week.”
That maybe what Reuters says, but hundreds of thousands of people in Britain don’t agree.
“BBC Director General Mark Thompson (right) says the arrival of the ‘on-demand’ iPlayer is as important as the first colour broadcasts in the 1960s,” says the story.
“Viewers can choose from 400 hours of programmes, between 60 and 70 percent of the total TV output, including hit shows such as ‘EastEnders,’ ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Planet Earth’.”
However, not only does the service come complete with Microsoft DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control, it’s not free, as advertised by the BBC say protesters in a petition.
“All people in the UK with a device capable of receiving a broadcast television signal are required by the Broadcasting Act 1990 to purchase a Television Licence and anyone found to be receiving broadcasts without a licence are subject to a maximum fine of £1000 (GBP),” Alex Hanff pointed out last week.
Thats about $C2,137, $US2,049 or EUR1,484.
“Despite the fact that the new iPlayer service has been funded by these Television Licence Fees, the BBC have chosen to exclude 100s of thousands of TV Licence holders from using the iPlayer service by restricting it to the Microsoft Windows XP platform using Windows Media Player’s DRM system,” says Hanff.
More than 10,000 people signed a petition demanding the service to be made compatible with other operating systems.
The TV service launches today as a trial version on 27 July – but only the PCs with Windows XP, although an Apple Mac versions could be available in autumn, with versions for Windows Vista and mobile devices to follow, the BBC said.
No mention was made of Linux, or which kinds of DRM it’ll be using for these.
Meanwhile, is the service technically reliable and will be and whether it is late to a crowded market? – asks the BBC itself, pointing out for the trial, “a fixed number of people will be able to sign up, with the numbers increasing throughout the year”.
Would-be users can register today, “and will then be invited to join.,” it says, adding, “The number of users will increase over the summer, before a full launch in the autumn.”
Also See:
Reuters – BBC launches free Internet TV service, July 27, 2007
chosen to exclude – BBC with DRM, July 19, 2007
BBC – BBC online video service launches, July 27, 2007
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July 27th, 2007 at 7:18 am
The TVL/BBC Licence fee is a government approved protection racket, now they are restricting access to a service that the british people already pay for?
The only fair way to distribute this material is to use a universal DRM free format. The DRM is going to be ripped out of the files and shared liberaly anyway, why encumber folks with it? Short sighted nonsense from big media afraid of the future.
So nothing new there then.
November 24th, 2007 at 5:42 am
I contacted the bbc about this when they were trialling it. I knew it wouldn’t do fuck all, and i was right they span me some corporate bullshit.
About drm free they said they needed drm to control who saw it because they were paying for the content they didnt create depending on how many viewers watched it, or they were paying some actors like that or something. Content they didnt create shouldnt be distributed by them online, imo. How many people have tv licenses in the uk? probably over 99%. That means most of the targeted market pays for the service, and also has the opportunity to watch the programming should they choose to. People in different countries shouldnt be counted in the figures, the bbc wont get money out of them whatever happens so they shouldnt worry about them.
The bbc had the opportunity to open up the entire archive for all to enjoy. Sure, we can take care of anything recent ourselves and dont need the bbc to do anything there, but thinking of all the old treasures that may be lost to us for no reason leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.