[Wylug-discuss] advice on ebook reader or similar...

[Paul Brook]

> On Thu, 22 Sep 2011, Paul Brook wrote:
> > You mean using get_iplayer ?
> 
> I'm assuming he means actual BBC Iplayer Desktop for linux.

I have to admit I didn't know such thing existed.  I'm also pretty sure it 
wouldn't work on many of my machines, and I wouldn't want to use it on the 
rest.

A quick google shows that:
(a) You can't even get at the installer unless you also have flash installed.
(b) The list of supported systems is comical (OpenSUSE 10.3, Ubuntu 8.10 and 
9.04).

Maybe a vaguely recent OS will work, maybe it won't.  The FAQ implies it's an 
Adobe Air application, at which point I lost the will to live.
 
> > My understanding is that has approximately nothing to do with the BBC,
> > and mainly works (and/or hasn't been subject to endless legal hassle)
> > because iplayer doesn't use any actual DRM.  IIRC the live streams
> > require some sort of authentication but that's relatively trivial to
> > spoof[1] so still works if you use the right variant of flvstreamer.
> 
> DRM is applied in rather odd ways because it's far far easier than doing it
> properly, and is generally just as effective.  On Freesat the HD channels
> are marked 'encrypt'.  All this means is that it's transmitted in the
> clear, then encrypted with a device specific key before being written to
> disk...  I'd guess there's something similar going on with iplayer.

Oh.  In that case the only sane answer is to not do that.  Encrypting free-to-
air channels (or content downloaded off the internet) on the client machine 
after reception is just plain dumb.  It's so dumb it makes the insanity of 
conventional DRM look smart.

Picking up on your "Freesat" reference, this is free-to-air (FTA) which means 
the content is transmitted without encryption.  i.e. the same as regular UK 
terestrial TV (both analogue and all but a few digital subscription chanels).  
Not to be confused with free-to-view (FTV, aka "freesat from sky"), which is 
an enrypted stream for which the current monthly subscription fee is £0.

While these may initially seem to be the same thing, they are fundamentally 
different.  With a FTV system you're still subject to an DRM based system, and 
at the mercy of the provider.  Currently it's relatively easy to obtain a 
"free" subscription.  However this is still tied to a single provider and only 
works with their proprietary hardware, which probably won't do anything other 
than output to [what it thinks is] a TV.  The DMCA (and UK/EU equivelents) 
effectively mean even if these systems are technically trivial to crack you're 
legally prohibited from doing, even if you aren't actually doing anything 
illegal with the result[2].

A FTA channel can be recieved by anyone, using hardware/software form any 
manufacturer.  In particular it works with PC decoder cards, many of which 
work quite nicely with Linux and your choice of client software.

Because Freesat is effectively state funded it must be FTA.  The slight 
wrinkle is that the EPG[1] is not covered by this.  In an absurd attempt to 
reintroduce proprietary lock-in this is subject to DRM (i.e. encryption).  I 
say absurd because the amount of information provided has limited actual value 
and can be found via many other unrestricted sources, including pretty much 
every newspaper and multiple internet source including several websites run by 
the Freesat providers.

Paul

[1] Electronic program guide.  i.e. a trivial amount of metadata provided as 
an axiliary data stream.
[2] IANAL, however DVDCSS is fairly good proof that this is true.  
"Legitimate" DVD playing software is stil only available as proprietary blobs 
subject to draconian licencing, despite the fact that the whole system is 
completely ineffecitve and anyone with two brain cells to rub together can 
find the un-approved solution.