BBC Trust Will Hear iPlayer Openness Complaints

AnotherDaveB writes with a Register story reporting that the BBC Trust has asked to meet with open source advocates to discuss their complaints over the corporation's Windows-only on-demand broadband TV service, iPlayer. The development came less than 48 hours after a meeting between the Open Source Consortium and regulators at Ofcom on Tuesday. Officials agreed to press the Trust, the BBC's governing body, to meet the OSC. The consortium received an invitation on Wednesday afternoon.

e-Petition (please sign it)

[apodyopsis]

Please feel free to sign the petition on the Government website.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/bbcmicrosoft/ [pm.gov.uk]

Always good to raise the profile of this...

Sun + Java = open DReaM

[oliverthered]

I seem to remember that sun was working on an opensource DRM based on Java called Dream [java.net]

Re:What can they really do?

[DigitAl56K]

Because the compulsory TV license covers UK viewers, and we're talking about Internet distribution now?

Bill and the Boys Had Words

[Anonymous Coward]

What ever happened to BBC research and development division? It seems the BBC do not innovate/invent in any way these days.

Bill had a word [bbc.co.uk] with them.

Re:What can they really do?

[CanadaIsCold]

They need to DRM and limit to the UK because of syndication. While most of their shows are public broadcast in the UK they license them to other TV stations that release on a different schedule. These other channels would not want to pay the same amount if the shows were available on the internet for free before they showed them on their channels.

The same thing happens with DVD's of BBC shows. The season may be long over in the UK some times years over but the DVDs won't release until after the american syndication has aired.

Siemens outsourcing of BBC Technology

[paj1234]

Has this got anything to do with the BBC's two-billion-GBP computer outsourcing deal with Siemens? Way back in 1999 the BBC had its own Linux-savvy wizards who did a fantastic job on the BBC website and other tasks:

http://linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/1176/1/ [linuxplanet.com]

I'd like to thank them for making sure the BBC's watch/listen pages work on my GNU/Linux/Mozilla/Realplayer computer at home. Now, it's all gone to Siemens, apparently:

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2004/10/01/ 205660/bbc-completes-2bn-outsourcing-deal-with-sie mens.htm [computerweekly.com]

Anyone inside BBC or Siemens care to comment?

Re:BBC R&D?

[mormop]

The BBC flogged its technology services division off to Siemens. [bbc.co.uk]. As happened with the UK train system, as soon as it sold off into private hands it turned to shit. The BBC was originally set up with a public service ethic at its heart. Now that those in power have £ signs in their eyes you can kiss goodbye to that one.

Re:I may not be interpreting this correctly....

[janrinok]

Except you are wrong. The licence permits you to receive ANY TV broadcast, from ANY source, in ANY format. That is what the law says you need the licence for and if you read the licence it is clearly explained. Its just that it all get paid to the BBC whether you want to watch Sky, ITV or something from overseas if you live near the coast.

Re:What can they really do?

[RonnyJ]

The most important reason, which you haven't mentioned, is that the BBC are regulated in order so that they don't overly damage commercial rivals. The DRM originally was less restrictive in regards to the length of time you could keep shows for, but the BBC were told to tighten up the limits. Given the choice of no iPlayer, and a DRM iPlayer, I'd pick the latter I'm afraid.

On a similar note, some people would say that the BBC should also sell their DVDs at cost price, since the public pays for the programs, but this would have an incredibly huge impact upon commercial rivals, and so is never going to happen.

Re:Simple answer

[gig]

> Is there already an open standard for DRM? I don't know about that stuff.

DRM means closed. Open and closed are opposites. Standards are written to encourage interoperability, DRM is anti-interoperability. The CD is an example of standards working, the MiniDisc is an example of DRM working.

The ISO standard for audio and video is MPEG-4 (Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, AppleTV, iPod, iPhone, iTunes, QuickTime) which does not specify any DRM, it's about audio and video. If you want DRM you add it separately but that makes your audio and video non-standard by definition. You are using the DRM to limit playback to just the players you bless. This is exactly opposite to an open format where the decoder's functionality is precisely documented so anyone can make their own.

The problem I have with this BBC deal is that it's right out of 1998, it's clear that nobody involved on the BBC side knows what time it is. They should be finding ways to get their content out over the Internet to iPods and similar, not worrying about who might get their precious streams. Windows Media already lost this battle years ago, it's surreal to see Microsoft conning somebody like this. The BBC is making a fool of themselves. Five years from now, nobody who worked on this deal for BBC will even mention it on their resume, it is truly embarrassing.

You don't bet against Apple, Sony, and Panasonic when it comes to consumer audio and video, let's be real.