[YLUG] Free the BBC!

[Ewan Mac Mahon]

On Sun, Jun 10, 2007 at 02:09:38AM +0100, Pete Fenelon wrote:
> On Sun, Jun 10, 2007 at 02:00:31AM +0100, Ewan Mac Mahon wrote:
> > 
> > Not to mention the fact that high quality digital versions of current BBC
> > output are readily available free of DRM using this new fangled thing we
> > call 'Television'. If they can do it on air, they can do it online.
> 
> It's free of DRM, sure. Over a geographical area in which you pay
> for the content with your licence fee. DRM doesn't matter. Now, the
> fact that for many years that weak analogue BBC2 signals made it
> the most popular channel in Holland was merely a minor irritant to
> the BBC. 
> 
> Perfect digital copies of everything available to anyone in the world for nowt 
> off the BBC website? Well, the number of people who'd miraculously "stop
> having televisions" and stop paying the licence fee would be amazing,
> wouldn't it? Or do you fancy paying 128 quid a year 'computer licence'
> instead?  ;)
>
You're doing the fingers-in-ears act that most proponents of DRM do, and
completely ignoring the fact that it doesn't actually work. If material is
available anywhere free of DRM, then it's available everywhere free of
DRM. BBC programmes like Life on Mars, Dr Who, Hustle etc are already
readily available online for nothing, as is a lot of archive stuff.

Furthermore Rob didn't say anything about free as in money, just free as
in freedom. I wouldn't have a problem with the BBC using the self-same DRM
free charged download model that iTunes is beginning to use. At least that
way there'd be some hope of recovering some money from overseas
downloaders whereas now there's none.

There's also the fact that existing BBC broadband streaming is restricted
to UK IP addresses, so they could do the same with any download service -
the rest of the world would only get access if someone gatewayed it for
them, which they already do via the Freeview->Bittorrent route. 

Bottom line; if people are prepared to act illegally, they already can,
and they still will with a DRMed iPlayer. The only people who will be
affected by the DRM are people that want to use the official, possibly
paid, route, but get locked out.
 
> > Besides which; the BBC is supposed to be publically accountable, and if
> > we, the bill payers, say we want the material DRM free when they ask us,
> > and we did, they should do it /because/ we asked.
> 
> Oh goody. So if I ask them for 24 hours a day of eye-poppingly hardcore
> Scandinavian grumble-flicks featuring lesbian nuns and improbably-hung
> donkeys, I should getthat too? For free? Wow.
>
If the same proportion of consultation respondents asked for it as asked
for a DRM free cross platform iPlayer, and if the BBC Trust made it's
provision a condition of approval for the BBC to broadcast at all, then
yes, you should. I don't really see that happening for this case, but it
did for the DRM free iPlayer case.

Ewan

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
Url : http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/york/attachments/20070610/e70180b4/attachment-0001.bin