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BBC Trial of TV Show Download Service
Little Hamster writes "Five thousand households with broadband access has been selected for a trial of the BBC's new interactive Media Player. The trial will run from September to December, and users can 'time shift' and download selected BBC TV shows, radio programmes, regional programming and feature films. After seven days, the content will be automatically deleted from the user's computers. BBC will use this trial to iron out any outstanding rights issues and resolve teething difficulties with the technology ahead of a full launch next year." The BBC Press Office has a release about this as well.
If the BBC essentially runs a public domain service anyway, why are the shows deleted after seven days?
This ceratinly doesn't need to happen on a video recording.
If it is available digitally, it would certainly be possible to find a way of copying it without the whole deletion procedure.
Even if its a custom media player, how long is it going to take for someone to hack it up?
Anyone wanna bet it'll be Windows only.
Guess i'll probably end up sticking to bittorrent.
yes, you don't get a free TiVo with a UK tv license
$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
TiVo I believe you can only record shows that were on and watch them later, or am I missing something?
My 3D Texturing Skinning work (under construction)
I was disappointed at first to see that the BBC is implementing DRM but it's worth bearing in mind that not all the content broadcast by the BBC is owned by them. Much of it comes from independent studios who license it to the BBC. So I remain hopeful that the BBC will offer its own copyrighted material to UK license payers on more permissive terms.
This is a test. Once this is mature, you will have all of these advantages:
Watch programs that are several years old, whenever you want, without having to record them. Watch three or more programs which all originally ran at the same time. Set up playlists of arbitrary programs, i.e. 'show me season two of Buffy'.
This is all assuming the BBC continues to try and develop it's offerings. I sure hope they do.
Try out fish, the friendly interactive shell.
Writers, directors, actors, yes.
Audience, no.
I've had a decent idea for legal TV distribution online in my journal for a while now. Most of the posts I see so far about this BBC service are negative. Finally a media outlet is trying to embrace technology instead of calling their lawyers every 5 minutes, and all people can do is complain. Downloadable shows will probably never be free without the show including some form of DRM or advertising... get used to it. I'd much rather have DRM or ads than no downloadable shows at all.
If you don't want the DRM or ads, get a Tivo or TV capture card and skip the commercials or edit them out.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
The issue of Linux is that it simply won't be supported. Isn't that obvious?
Simple - they havent paid for it to be produced, theyve paid a TV license fee, which is entirely differnet. It just so happens that the BBC receives this money, but that does not automatically mean that the viewers have all rights to the productions.
They still don't get it. DRM will still be unnacceptable.
It is MY computer and it should only delete something when I tell it to. No one else. It should not police me. It should not tell me what to do, I should tell it what to do. If I break the law using my computer, then I should be held responsible, but I should NOT be limited if I choose to use the computer in a fashion that some short sited company didn't plan on.
Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
for the same reason that you can't walk into a hospital and take home, say, the radiology department just because you pay taxes.
the production of the programs on bbc tv is written, produced, lit, filmed, acted directed etc etc. by professionals towards whom you pay your contribution, which allows you to view THEIR WORK without adverts clogging up the airtime and invading your head.
it's not like buying a book, or another physical product. the bbc provides information: without selling things to you; without propoganda ("we are not Britain, we are the BBC" -news editor during Falklands conflict, during which the BBC got right up Thatcher's nose); and (largely) without dumbed down celebrity claptrap reality tv (a couple of exceptions) and a license fee is a contribution towards "the most important cultural institution in Britain and, arguably, the World" (ref. Modern British History, M. Garnett and R. Weight ISBN 1-844-13104-1), it is NOT a product you own, and in this era of incessant Hollywood propoganda, commercial corporate power and tabloid newspapers it is not just a service in Britain, it is vital. £120 is cheap.
and no i don't work for them.
They moan about a fee of £100 for a year for a load of channels free of advertising. Sky costs about half that much for a month of advert-ridden shit. I know which is better value.
No, after seven days the show will be deleted. Or the audio and/or video will be deleted. The content, if any, will not be deleted any more than the format, presentation, or volume.
Fine, if it was a voluntary subscription, which is isn't. Every program the BBC makes ends up on satellite, for which you pay a subscription.
Don't pretend that the BBC don't charge the satellite providers for the content either.
I think the BBC should be provided for like all the rest, i.e. they get their money from people who choose to subscribe. Using the government to force people to support a commercial service is too much.