On 15/06/07, Richard Lockwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
And Ad Hominem nonsense about "muppets" presumably. I still don't see how having DRM'd content free (of charge) over the internet from the BBC is worse than having no content from the BBC over the internet.
Because the DRM the BBC uses is NOT free. It costs hundreds of pounds to buy the software. Add to that the software it self is badly written and poses a security nightmare and the fact is unverifiable and produced by someone who has been successfully prosecuted of offences may times. Then you're starting to get somewhere. Also add to the fact the BBC is trying (and succeeding) in interfering in a market that is well known for anti-competitive practices. In fact the platform the BBC chose has already been the subject of legal action from the European Union. If the BBC wants to use DRM it should create a platform neutral DRM scheme like the BBC trust has said. And yet the BBC has shown no evidence what so ever that it has any intention of creating a platform neutral iPlayer. Especially considering that the BBC would have little other option other than to release a specification for iPlayer so that other clients can be produced or to Open Source iPlayers code (and everything it requires) so that it can be ported to other platforms. Simple producing a Windows, Mac and Linux version is NOT platform neutral. platform neutral would work irrespective of platform. So that's *BSD, Linux, Mac, Solaris, Windows, any other OS including ones the BBC don't know about and aren't complete yet. Running on x86, intel/AMD 64 bit, PowerPC, Motorola 68k, Sparcs, Alpha, Arm, MIPS, PA-RISC, s/390, and CPU architectures that are unknown to the BBC or incomplete. That's a lot of different versions for the BBC to create isn't it, and even then it's not truly neutral as it won't work on new or undisclosed platforms. Could use Java, Python or another abstraction layer apart from the fact that technically Java or Python would be considered the platform so it would not be platform neutral either. So when is the BBC going to comply with "platform neutral"? Or does it intend never to comply? What method of complying is it using (seems it should have started by now)? Is it going to be a specification like an RFC or is it going to be an open implementation which will serve as a specification for interaction? I don't see any other way to achieve "platform neutral", any one else got any idea how else platform neutral is going to be achieved? For the benefit of those who do not understand why I am stressing the term "platform neutral" so hard, it is because the BBC Trust explicitly specified the BBC must provide a platform neutral solution. Quoting from the BBC trust's website:
The service will be provided on a platform-neutral basis within a reasonable timeframe of launch From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/closed_consultations/ondemand.html
Andy -- SELECT * FROM remarks WHERE witty=1 LIMIT 1 - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
