[SWLUG] New protest and petition against BBC's Windows-only iPlayer

[Steve Hill]

On Fri, 3 Aug 2007, Vladimir Zlatanov wrote:

> BSkyB is just one of the DVB-S providers who happen to own a satellite(s)
> broadcasting to UK.

BSkyB own no satellites.  They lease some transponders from SES Astra and 
Eutel on a number of satellites, just as all the other channels do.

_However_ BSkyB run the only DVB-S _platform_ (i.e. the EPG, etc) for the 
UK at the moment and everything about that platform is tied to the Sky 
hardware.  For example, the EPG is encrypted and in a propriatory format, 
all the interactive stuff is run on the propriatory OpenTV platform (as 
opposed to the DVB-T interactive content which is the open MHEG-5 
standard and uses the standard EIT to distribute the EPG data in an 
unencrypted format).

Yes, other operators could start their own DVB-S platform (and indeed, 
FreeSat is due to be launched next year on the Astra 28.2E / Eurobird 
28.5E cluster (i.e. the same satellite cluster that Sky Digital uses for 
it's channels and all the other operators use for channels that appear on 
the Sky EPG), which is a collaberation of the BBC and ITV), but the point 
is that at the moment Sky have a monopoly on this and have designed it in 
such a way that they therefore also have a monopoly on the receiving 
equipment which people can use.

> There are non-SKY owned satellites broadcasting DVB-S. The pain in the back
> is that you need to switch
> satellites. Which for various reasons doesn't make business sense, hence Sky
> has effectively a monopoly over
> UK DVB-S transmissions. The other satellites simply don't target UK.

Shall we turn this around: Microsoft are just one of the CODEC providers 
who just happen to own the DRM system the content publisher (BBC) is 
using.  There are non-Microsoft owned CODECs available and used by other 
content publishers, the pain in the back is that you need to switch 
content publishers.  Hence Microsoft has effectively a monopoly over BBC 
content.

Same is true in both cases - the BBC are using a propriatory system which 
forces you to use their choice of receiver (iPlayer, Windows XP, x86 
hardware).  Sky are using a propriatory system which forces you to use 
their choice of receiver/PVR (e.g. Sky Plus).

Either way, having the publisher dictate what device you must use to 
receive content is bad news for the consumer.  If the BBC used an open 
format there would be a wide selection of players to choose from.  If Sky 
used open standards there would be a wide selection of receivers and PVRs 
to choose from.

-- 

  - Steve
    xmpp:steve at nexusuk.org   sip:steve at nexusuk.org   http://www.nexusuk.org/

      Servatis a periculum, servatis a maleficum - Whisper, Evanescence