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BBC Episodes Legally Available Via Peer To Peer

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the drink-the-kool-aid dept.

Kript writes "According to the BBC they are going to make a number of their shows available on the Azureus network. A number of old favorites will be available such as Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and even Little Britain."

17 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. In typical Slashdot fashion... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have not RTFA. I'm wondering if Warner Home Video will lay the hammer down on me if I want to watch Red Dwarf in this manner...being in the U.S. and Warner Home Video being the U.S. distributor of many BBC programs.

    --
    Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
    1. Re:In typical Slashdot fashion... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Informative
      I'm wondering if Warner Home Video will lay the hammer down on me if I want to watch Red Dwarf in this manner...being in the U.S. and Warner Home Video being the U.S. distributor of many BBC programs.

      You do not have an agreement with Warner not to purchase Red Dwarf from another source. If the beeb has an agreement with them not to distribute it to you, then they have something to talk about, but it doesn't involve you.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:In typical Slashdot fashion... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful
      There is no difference between this and downloading Warner's shows off non BBC torrent site.

      The difference is that it's a legally acquired, licensed download approved by the BBC.

      Try to RTFA next time and the student will be enlightened.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Misleading Headline & Summary by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Informative

    It won't be available for free on Azureus, it will be a DRM-infested pay-download on Azureus' pay service, Zudeo, and they haven't even decided what they're charging.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Misleading Headline & Summary by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's also only available in the US. Those of us in the UK, who are paying £130 to the BBC each year and funded many of these programs when they were originally made would quite like to be able to download them too, especially since the BBC Charter says they must do whatever they can to make their material available to the British public...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Misleading Headline & Summary by eln · · Score: 5, Insightful

      p2p (and Bittorrent, specifically) solves a major bandwidth issue for content distribution.

      Yah, it solves the issue of media companies who want to charge money for content but don't want to pay for the distribution of that content. If I purchase a DVD, I am paying for the content, and the distribution of that content (getting the DVD to the store so I can purchase it) is paid by the content provider (albeit rolled into the cost of the DVD). Now, thanks to P2P I can pay the same price for the same content, only this time without a physical copy, and I have to pay for the distribution (bandwidth) myself. How is that a good deal?

      If they want to provide this content at a discount that reflects the fact that they're getting distribution of their product for free, then maybe it would be a good deal. As it is now, though, it's just content providers getting something for nothing.

    3. Re:Misleading Headline & Summary by orasio · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Or maybe it just lowers the barrier to entry of the market.
      Right now the money makers are distributors. And you get the to choose your stuff stuff mostly from distributors (you buy channel packages).
      With this kind of deal, other content providers who have no deals with big distributors could enter the game, and the competition could be over content, and maybe price, and not over distribution channels. It could be a nice thing for the guy who actually buys the stuff.

    4. Re:Misleading Headline & Summary by illegalcortex · · Score: 3, Interesting

      the BBC Charter says they must do whatever they can to make their material available to the British public

      Does it say "for free"? Not flaming you, just curious. Or at least, does it say "at no additional cost other than your license"? I'm also curious as to how this relates to BBC shows that air in the US on public TV at a later time. For example, they air tons of old British comedies (including that hilarious EastEnders show) that are several years out of date. Am I right in guessing these episodes aren't currently available in the UK? I wonder how that fits with the aforementioned duty.

    5. Re:Misleading Headline & Summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Patience, dear boy, patience :)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPlayer

      It IS coming - just rather slowly. It's shame that it is going to be WMP based DRM, but you have to appease the Indies/Film companies, etc, somehow.

      There is going to be the Open Archive some time next year too, with old BBC content being brought online.

      Next year is going to be a BIG year for the BBC online, should all go well. One shouldn't underestimate the complexities of a project such as iPlayer - it's probably the biggest Internet based software project in the UK at the moment, and the BBC really has to deliver correctly first time, otherwise there will (rightly) be uproar from the license fee payer.

      But hey, it's all a step in the right direction!

  3. Good for the US by smallfries · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But this is not what they promised to do. As a British Licensefee payer I expect them to open up their content on UK filesharing networks, as they promised. Offering DRM'd content to overseas markets is not part of their charter. Making money should be a secondary concern to their primary purpose - delivering good tv to a British audience.

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    Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
  4. That's ok though by Killjoy_NL · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I already have all Red Dwarf seasons on DVD, not that expensive and more than worth it :)
    But that's only my opinion.

    Smeghead ;)

    --
    This is the sig that says NI (again)
  5. It's a trap! by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't have a TV license. I regularly get threatening letters from the collections agency asking me to turn myself in for my heinous crime.

    They got so bad at one point that I actually wrote to them refusing to partake in any further correspondence until they sent me a civil letter. They wrote back - with a threat about how large the fine will be when they haul me in.

    The fun part? I don't have a television. But I'm not telling them that until they ask politely. Yes, it's probably stupid and it's certainly obstinate but I refuse to be intimidated.

    Now, of course, with them making a move like this I actually feel like I might *want* to give them money. It's a pretty cool thing to do and I'm proud of the BBC for being forward looking and generally a great service. So that's what this is all about folks. They are just trying to shame me into paying up. The worked out what my buttons were and pushed them. As soon as I hand over the cash, the whole thing will go away. It's a freaking trap I tell you.

    Fortunately for all of you I'm holding out for them to switch to ogg for their radio streams before I buy a TV license. You should be safe to enjoy this content for another couple of decades. My present to all of you! /tinfoilhat

    --
    Beep beep.
    1. Re:It's a trap! by Nuskrad · · Score: 4, Informative

      A yearly payment that allows you to operate a TV in a premises. The costs are used to pay for BBC TV, Radio and Interactive services.

    2. Re:It's a trap! by Feanturi · · Score: 5, Funny

      what the hell is a TV license?

      It's an initiative geared to solving the problem of stray televisions wandering the streets. Apparently they cause a lot of traffic congestion, that's why you have to pay to drive in downtown London. They also like to pee on some guy named Lou. Weirdos.

  6. Matching legal to reality by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This would be the only way to actually deal with torrents. They're here, and they're here to stay. If they crack down on torrent sites, like they try now, something new will come into existance, if nothing else, people will post torrent hashes on usenet. It's not like you could technically stop the distribution of content.

    The only way to really deal with it is to give it some leeway while trying to make some revenue, somehow, out of it all. The fact that those files will be tacked down with DRM will surely keep this from flying, but generally the idea is a good one. It could've been done with a "members only" torrent tracker (where you gotta pay the BBC to become a member), with the torrent info only available on their tracker.

    THEN it is possible to crack down on sites offering that torrent, too, because the torrent hash itself is owned by the BBC, not by someone who just "allows" others to use it. It's their 'content', so to speak.

    Yes, that could've been a success. Devaluating it by adding enough DRM to weigh it down certainly doesn't help it.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. Re:this is a non-starter by cliffski · · Score: 4, Funny

    its the bbc website. i'm glad they use british english. Can you please correct all your american websites that can't spell colour.
    Cheers,

    --
    DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
  8. cracking zudeo's torrent wrapping by speculatrix · · Score: 3, Informative

    it took me just a few minutes of guesswork to avoid having to use the zudeo software at all; I didn't install it. When you click to download, it saves a .jnlp file which is just an XML wrapper around a URL containing a torrent, then download the torrent and open it with a torrent downloader (shareaza will do nicely). It will save a file called .hdmov, which you just rename so it will open with Quicktime.

    Thus who needs zudeo's spyware?