[mythtv-users] Somewhat OT, but still MythTV related: BBC adopts MS DRM for BBC web-programming

[Peter Bowyer]

On 28/07/07, Razza <ray at brambletree.net> wrote:
> Peter Bowyer wrote on 28 July 2007 13:46 (as a top poster):
> > A bigger load of scare-mongering biased mis-interpretation has rarely
> > been written. Oh, sorry, I forgot about Slashdot.
> >
> > On 27/07/07, F Peeters (MythTV) <francesco at fampeeters.com> wrote:
> > > Kick the Corruption Out of the BBC!
> > >
> > > Today the BBC made it official-they have been corrupted by Microsoft.
> > With
> > > today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most
> > basic
> > > of duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line
> > > distribution of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a
> > > Microsoft operating system to view BBC programming on the web. And
> > you
> > > must accept the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) that the
> > iPlayer
> > > imposes.
> > >
> > > Read the story about the corruption of the BBC.
> > >
> > <http://defectivebydesign.org/sites/nodrm.civicactions.net/modules/civi
> > crm/extern/url.php?q=272115&u=346>
> > >
> > > Source: DefectiveByDesign.org
>
> Maybe you would care to correct this "scare-mongering biased
> mis-interpretation" with coherent argument?

If I must... certainly the first version of iPlayer is Windows-only
using MS DRM. That's entirely because it's the only platform currently
available which supports the DRM demanded by the BBC's rights holders.
The BBC has committed to producing, and its governing body the BBC
Trust has mandated in its Public Value Test response to the iPlayer
proposals, a platform-neutral version of iPlayer.

Meanwhile, the choice was either to release nothing while finding
and/or writing a suitable mass-market platform-neutral alternative, or
release something now which is usable by the huge majority of its
license payers immediately, and follow it up by something which fills
in the gaps.

-- 
Peter Bowyer
Email: peter at bowyer.org