Thrifty, Anonymous Benefactor Backs Up BBC Websites Before They Go Dark 159
revealingheart writes "The BBC is set to close down 200 of its websites in the near future as part of cost-cutting measures. Hearing that 172 of these sites would be deleted from the Web entirely, an anonymous individual has taken matters into his or her own hands. The result is a BitTorrent file that anyone can download to store a backup of these 'lost' websites forever. The cost of the project? Apparently no more than $3.99 for a VPS server to crawl and retrieve all the sites."
Re:What I want to know.... (Score:4, Informative)
What, you want them in Altarian Dollars? Can't do, as they no longer exist. I wouldn't bother with Triganic Pu, that has too many problems. Or how about one Ningis, you can get eight of those for one Pu, but nobody has ever rich enough to own one Pu so it isn't worth thinking about.
Re:What I want to know.... (Score:4, Informative)
(In the UK, if you own a device that can receive TV signals, you HAVE to have a TV license which the BBC gets funds from)
No. In the UK, iff you use a device to watch television as it is broadcast then your residence has to have a TV licence. A TV used for CCTV, amateur television or watching DVDs does not create a requirement for a licence. A computer used for iPlayer's "Watch live" service does create a requirement for a licence.
A license is some American invention which you probably need to jaywalk from the sidewalks to the theater.
Re:What I want to know.... (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, It is only required if you watch or record TV as it's being shown over the air (live).
You can in fact have a Freeview TV set up, plugged in, receiving signals, but so long as you only use it to read text services or listen to radio - you don't need a licence.
I have previously written to the BBC for clarification on these points, and they have confirmed that this is truth.
Re:Umm , won't the internet archive do this for fr (Score:4, Informative)
Real reason the BBC is cutting back online (Score:5, Informative)
The real reason the BBC is cutting back on its online presence is hidden pressure from the commercial sector who have always seen it as a threat to their revenue. "News Corporation's James Murdoch has said that a "dominant [bbc.co.uk]" BBC threatens independent journalism in the UK". Of course we all know what kind of 'independent' journalism he really means. One where some Australian pornographer decides who gets to be president or Primeminister.
"James Murdoch, son of Rupert and the man in charge of BSkyB has criticised the BBC iPlayer, insisting that the popular online VOD service is squashing competition" link [techradar.com]
Re:What I want to know.... (Score:5, Informative)
So there you go, spacerich.com offers VPS for $3.99/month.
Re:The BBC is hardly unbiased (Score:5, Informative)
Two BBC journos have written books denouncing left wing bias throughout the BBC. Most recently Peter Sissons [dailymail.co.uk], but before that Robin Aitken [amazon.co.uk].
Re:author makes no reasonable point (Score:3, Informative)
The BBC speaks for nobody except the Guardian-reading leftists who work for it. They consistently monster any Conservative (or lately LibDem) who appears on their programmes while giving Labour an easy ride and packing the audiences of shows like Question Time with baying Trotskyites. "people's counterbalance"... don't make me laugh!
Question Time audiences are designed to give a fair representation of the local population - they're not "packed" at all. The BBC balances the private media (well, News International, since they control 90% of the UK's print and TV media that's not the BBC). When Labour was in power, The Sun newspaper fell over themselves worshipping New Labour and the BBC counterbalanced that. Now that we have a Lib Dem/Conservative coalition, BBC balances the now blatantly, staunchly Tory-loving media output. Thus the balance of the Universe is maintained...