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iPlayer for Linux wins approval of open sourcers (ZDNet UK)
ZDNet UK looks
at the BBC's move to make its iPlayer online on-demand TV service
available for streaming on Linux systems. "Following a meeting with
the OSC [Open Source Consortium], the BBC's independent governing body, the
BBC Trust, restated its commitment to make the download version of iPlayer
"platform agnostic"."
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approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 2:17 UTC (Wed) by pjm (subscriber, #2080) [Link] Re “wins approval of open sourcers”, the article gives no indication of whether the player will be open source, just that there's likely to be a binary available for one Linux-based platform. Based on what's previously been said (DRM stuff), there's a good chance that it won't be open source. It would be nice if at least some (most?) content could be available without DRM (just as all video content has been available without DRM up until DVDs), allowing easy viewing by open-source software.
approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 3:41 UTC (Wed) by pr1268 (subscriber, #24648) [Link] I strongly doubt iPlayer will be open source. Far from it. But, I'm pleased that the BBC realizes that the personal computing world doesn't end at Microsoft.
approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 8:32 UTC (Wed) by Klavs (subscriber, #10563) [Link] Remember Macrovision? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrovision - there's been DRM "solutions" since the 80's :)
approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 9:43 UTC (Wed) by jengelh (subscriber, #33263) [Link] Solutions is the right word. [The problem of] DRM gets (dis)solved over time, either by crackers or common sense. :-)
approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 10:20 UTC (Wed) by slef (subscriber, #14720) [Link] The content is available without DRM in a way easily playable and storable by free/open source software: over the air in north-west Europe in DVB-Terrestial and DVB-Satellite broadcasts. That's part of why the expensive obsession with DRM/TPM in iPlayer is so depressingly silly. The BBC seem to have forgotten that they are a national broadcaster, funded by compulsary payments, and should be required to serve all people, whether or not we are in thrall to Verisign or Microsoft or whoever. It's an error of the UK Government that there doesn't seem to be any such requirement enforced.
approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 14:17 UTC (Wed) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link] The only reason I see them doing this is because they sell BBC programming to the American market. There are BBC shows on 'public television' (which is 'public' by name only) and there is at least one BBC channel avialable for cable companies to subscribe to. Then they make money on some shows, like DR. Who, being sold to other channels, not only to mention DVD sales. So if you'd ask them they are probably saying the reason they are doing DRM is to protect the public's interest and to obtain funding for programming from methods other then taxation and that sort of thing. Having a high-quality internet feed will undermine this and almost certainly piss off their associates outside the country. It may even be a requirement with certain companies they have contracts with. Of course the BBC isn't ever going to publicly admit that they are letting themselves be controlled by U.S. (and other) interests in exchange for profits. Of course it's all pretty stupid, but this is how this sort of stuff works.
approval of open sourcers Posted Dec 19, 2007 14:31 UTC (Wed) by ewan (subscriber, #5533) [Link] That's certainly the argument they make but it doesn't hold water. The BBC already uses geolocation by IP address to restrict some services to the UK, or to add advertising for clients outside the country. If you make the assumption that everyone will always go direct to the BBC and that no secondary copies will be made available then that would solve the problem. If you take into account the fact the people can capture the content and make it available on the various bittorrent sites etc. then the DVB 'hole' is enough for those people, and forcing DRM on the online versions adds nothing.
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