BBC Releases P2P TV Client Test

evildeed writes "The BBC's Internet Media Player trial started today, and a few thousand lucky UK citizens now have a copy. The good news? Legal P2P downloads of quality shows. The bad news? Requires IE and Windows Media Player, and it's probably going to be UK-only. Oh well. One of the lucky few has uploaded screenshots and a brief review." The service was first announced back in may.

Comments

Before anyone asks..

[MullerMn]

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/imp/help/index.shtml#fourteen :

14. When will I get iMP on Mac & Linux?
Currently, our supplier is working towards supporting a Mac and Linux version.

Re:Before anyone asks..

[EvilMole]

"Except they don't compete with anyone, it is amazing that the BBC's long standing culture of nepotism and corruption has managed to produce so many worthwhile programmes."

Ahh, so basically you're one of those people who hate the BBC and will look for any old stick to bash it with? Fine - that puts your previous comments in a little more context. Have you ever thought you might have got the argument the wrong way round - that the fact that the BBC produces so many worthwhile programmes (much more than "free market" ITV) is actually evidence that it's not nepotistic or corrupt? Or would that be using logic instead of your own bias?

And if you think that programme makers aren't in a competitive market, you know nothing about media.

DRM-encumbered

[ReformedExCon]

I don't see how it can be considered P2P. You download the media off of the BBC's servers, not from your friends and neighbors.

In addition, the media files themselves are DRM-encumbered, so it wouldn't even make sense to have them on a P2P network when the files would 1) stop working after 7 days and 2) may not work on other machines.

Is this really P2P? If they are opening up the archives, why would they want to put DRM on the files?

It doesn't make sense.

When can I buy the service?

[NigelJohnstone]

I don't live in the UK, do they plan to let non UK people get (pay) for access? Anyone from the beeb know?

Maybe they are just using it as a buzzword

[ReformedExCon]

Take a look at this page which details how to download the files:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/imp/tour/tour7.shtml

Maybe the files themselves are hosted on a P2P network and the BBC saves on bandwidth costs by offloading the files onto that network. But it doesn't seem very "P2Pish".

Re:Question..

[Brown]

Currently the BBC depends on the TV licence fee, and shows no commercal advertising. This is a very good thing.

Once a broadcaster starts depending on advertising for revenues, the overriding concern becomes viewer figures, rather than quality of output; thus ITV (the BBC's main commercial equivelent) shows programs like 'Celebrity Love Island' and 'TVs Naughtiest Blunders 16' at the same time as BBC shows Newsnight (fairly serious news and current affairs program).

The licence fee, despite many people not liking it, makes for independent and high-quality broadcasting; IMO arguably the best in the world.

-Chris

Re:Who is this service for?

[thetroll123]

>Watch a lot of TV
No, watch any TV

>... but only watch BBC programmes
No, watch any BBC programmes

>... and don't want to archive their favourite programmes
This is not unusual at all. Very few people archive TV.

>Have a fast internet connection ... but don't download stuff already via P2P
Lot of people have broadband, few know about/can be bothered with existing P2P.

>Are into new technology and gadgets ... but only Use IE and Windows
Again, no. It's *have access to IE and Windows*, not *only use*.

Very weird post indeed.

Re:Question..

[Martz]

The BBC isn't allowed under it's charter to make money from advertising. They are supposed to form a neutral point on everything, including corporate interest.

That hasn't stopped some companies muscling into the popular TV shows to get their product placed - and recently are increasingly underfire about the whole thing.

That said - if you do pay the BBC TV/Radio licence - doesn't that entitle me to use of any content that they carry? For example if Radio 1 play a song on the radio - since my licence payment has already reembursed the artist for it - shouldn't I be allowed to listen again and again?

Re:"UK only"?

[Ngwenya]

They'll use current (imperfect) IP geolocation stuff like everyone else.

No, they wont.

I rather think that they will. I know because my wife works for the BBC and showed me a preview of the technology roadmap - which is now public, and so I can talk about it here.

They're using GeoIP to do IP location, Kontiki to handle the P2P aspect and (at the moment) Windows WMV DRM to handle the encryption and license to view.

I suspect that this is only the initial technology - there is no way that MPlayer/VLC/etc will implement DRM (and even if they did, they're open source, so people could just dike it out anyway).

The DRM aspect is for due diligence - so that the Beeb can represent to the content producers (often non-BBC companies) that their content is being safeguarded against the legions of pirates, who, err.. download the stuff via DVB-{S,T,C} and then upload to Bittorrent. In other words - the guys at Kingswood Warren [BBC Tech HQ] know fine that the DRM protection is ultimately bullshit, but that they have to make some good faith effort to raise the piracy bar.

Back to GeoIP: I tried going out to my (German-based) Web proxy, then back via a UK HTTP proxy to test whether it would work. And it did - proving nothing, BTW, except that non UK people will get access to this content anyway.

--Ng