Greetings
Encouraging news: Denmark's public service broadcaster, DR, has
announced concrete steps to open up its online video content to
citizens who have yet to adopt a Windows OS (these obstinate
individuals apparently constitute 5% of DR's users). More
significantly, they are committed to open standards as the next step
- albeit as a "complement" to the current proprietary lock-in.
The first step will be to simulcast DR1 and DR2 in MPEG4 H264 before
year end. Greater use of open standards is required for the period
2007-2010 by DR's contract with its paymaster the Ministry of
Culture. Sounds good to me. Perhaps other public service broadcasters
in Europe should be contractually required to maximise their ability
to meet their universal provision mandate by much more actively
participating in the development and adoption of open standards for
digital content service provision. The potential benefits would
accrue to a far wider community of stakeholders, from equipment
manufacturers to end users. Alas, nothing so unambiguous as an
enforceable requirement can be expected in the UK.
For those of you who are Danish readers (or who enjoy Babelfish lost-
in-translations), this link tells more:
http://dr.dk/hjaelp/drdktv/20070207112823.htm (yes, ".htm" not
".html" - ironic, but instructive, for a page on open standards)
Today MPEG4, tomorrow TV-Anytime?
- Colin
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Colin Moorcraft, onTV Europe Ltd.
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://onTV.eu.com
mobile: +44-(0)7766 333067
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