[mythtv] BBC Freeview HD encoded/licensed EPG content proposal - comments due 2nd April 2010

Stuart Morgan stuart at tase.co.uk
Sat Jan 23 17:56:57 UTC 2010


On Saturday 23 Jan 2010 16:17:30 Another Sillyname wrote:
> There is a school of thought though that once you've accepted the
> principal of any encryption that the 'industry' will continue to
> 'creep' further encryptions.

Too late then, even ignoring the wide acceptance of encrytion in DVD, Bluray 
and other physical mediums. Sky, Virgin, BT, TopUpTV all encrypt their 
broadcast TV offerings and they are widely accepted, furthermore they can 
often afford to pay more for imports so the BBC haven't a leg to stand on. The 
BBC, even as large as it is has no power to persuade the studios to change 
their minds, that would take industry wide cooperation which will never 
happen. DRM will probably fail for video as it has already done for music, but 
until then the BBC are offering a very acceptable compromise.

> I have to say I'm against any encryption in principal, the 'studios'
> that are saying they won't sell their movies to the Beeb cannot be
> serious that it will prevent piracy. Between the number of stations in
> North America, Canada and Oz that transmit HD in the clear, cracked
> Blu Rays and other sources the HD version of a movie is often on the
> net before the first Blu Ray has even shipped.

Will it stop piracy? No. It will however improve the chances of conviction of 
pirates by taking away the naivity defence. It's the 'complimentary' apple 
defence - there is a bowl of apples in the reception area of a Hotel, they are 
intended for the guests, a man walks in off the street though the open door 
and tips the apples into his bag, when stopped by Police down the street he 
pleads innocence, "The apples were free officer!". It's an offence of theft, 
plain and simple but a jury may buy that the man was so naive that he really 
didn't know that.

Well the BBC is license payer funded and they broadcast Free To Air. Someone 
will argue that since they've paid for it and there were no barriers which had 
to be crossed, they thought they owned the recording and had the right to 
distribute among friends. The obscuring of the EPG is not meant to be a strong 
measure, it's a _symbolic_ one, a physical barrier no stronger than the velvet 
rope in museums, but an important psychological barrier.

-- 
Stuart Morgan


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