Slashdot Mirror
BBC Opens TV Archive to Remixers
megla writes "The BBC has opened its Creative Archive to the public, allowing users to be VJs and remix BBC content. The BBC's "current music" radio station, Radio 1, is running a competition in conjunction with the release.
Unfortunately, the license the content is released under requires that you are a UK resident to use it." For British residents, however, this is well worth the television license.
it will make such great footage for parties
Muzik.4.Machines
People in the UK definitely care. I believe they simply would not be allowed to let anyone outside of the UK access the content as it would be in breach of their licensing terms -- in the interests of fairness, money paid by British TV license holders should not be spent on giving content to those in other countries who don't pay.
I don't think many people could convincingly argue that the BBC doesn't produce an enormous range of programs, and services.
But I do personally object to the license fee. As things stand I currently own a TV which I use for watching DVDs almost exclusively.
Despite this I have to pay the mandatory BBC-tax every year, just because I own a television.
I would love to see the TV license changed to a BBC license, and would happily have my set neutered if it meant that I didn't have to pay.
At the moment I watch a lot of BBC produced content on DVD, which I've paid for (Red Dwarf, Faulty Towers, Monty Python, etc, etc), and it irks me that I must give them more money every year for little obvious benefit.
Sure I'm listening to their radio station, and watching their website - but so are thousands of other people in foreign countries (with things like the BBC World Service) who don't have to pay this tax.
Hmmph, I would love to download the ant video clip but I am not from U.K. I wonder if you can use an UK server as a proxy. Has anyone tried it? :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
They have a list of people who own a licence, and therefore by default a list of those who don't. They park the van outside the house, aim the aerial at the windows and pick up the e-m radiation from the CRT screen. I very much doubt it works with LCD/Plasma screens or projectors.
As for the GP post, it is indeed possible to get your tuning circuit removed or remove the aerial connection internally (get an electrician to do it) and then use the TV as a monitor. It's one of the few things the court will accept. To not pay the licence, you have to prove an inability to watch TV, either by not having a TV, or by having one that cannot pick up signals.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
I thought that caper ended in the 70's, but a quick googling reveals that "Each household's colour TV licence cost £10.08 every month in 2004/2005".
Do they still have black vans driving around with tv-detector dishes sticking out the roof?
Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
a) remove/dsiable the tuner in the TV.
b) remove the aerial from the TV and replace it with a 75ohm termination. This will keep the local oscillator emissions inside the TV (possibly enough to avoid the detector vans from classifying your "DVD monitor" as a TV)
c) Use a monitor in place of a TV.
d) build yourself a TV with non-standard IF frequencies!
It's really a shame you have to be a UK resident, I know the BBC has a lot of good material. I'm especially a fan of BBC America, it's quite nice to watch some of the classics on TV sometimes and get news that is sourced outside of the US.
It's kind of like getting a 2nd opinion when watching the World News on BBC
$fortune
Tomorrow has been canceled due to lack of interest.
How much is this license?
I'd be willing to pay money to the BBC for access to this and othe r content.
Heck, I'd be willing to pay a TV tax of some reasonable pittance just to replace our CBC up here with a much expanded and comercial reduced BBC Canada.
It's not like that's where CBC is getting it's news from anyway due to the strike...
JC
On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
I for one would not object if the BBC had a licensing scheme for users outside of the UK to take advantage of the content (although technically it is the UK government, not the BBC, that controls TV licensing). Clearly the BBC is a well respected media organasation and there's no reason I cannot see that opening up subscription based content to users across the world couldn't generate extra revenue and shutup some of the nay-sayers who have it in for the BBC and public broadcasting.
Interestingly, the European Union have been looking into the way various countries grant special rights to the national broadcaster, and the way they are funded, as it looks as if most (incl. the BBC) break EU rules on gov't subsidy/support and taxation rules. There's also a "television without frontiers" project, but like most EU initiatives it dodges the issues of the commercial TV companies operating a cartel to control pricing of high-value channels such as sports.
The bang the /. drum, yet again, globalisation seems to actually translate to screw the workers with outsource jobs or reduced salaries, combined with screwing the consumer by locking down regional sales (Sony's PSP springs to mind).
I note that slashdot editor didn't read the license page, it doesn't say anything about having a TV license to access this BBC archive.
Hey, I don't mind if they stay on strike at the moment since at least we are getting BBC news instead. Much more international content, and not just that which is rating oriented.
We really need the CBC/Radio Canada to be sorted out - this needs to be a channel for the citizens, not for the advertisers.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.