Hmmm Alan I take your point, but let me put it another way: the BBC could negotiate a specific Real build with less obtrusive tracking and advertising, a specific Miro build with smart playlist and branded interface, even offer a specific VLC build for exotic codecs such as Ogg Dirac (which are usually external libraries anyway).
Microsoft doesn't do that... perhaps because no one has asked? Beyond client players, interoperability problems occur when vendor-specific *standards* are used. Real doesn't run over GNU/Linux, but that's not because Real doesn't offer a player, it's because they won't licence the file format. MPEG codecs run on everything (despite patent licensing problems) because the industry knows they can invest in hardware manufacturing that won't be fooled with by one vendor. The Xiph codecs can run on anything and have the added advantage of no patent encumbrances. Dirac is an excellent choice not merely because it is high-quality, scalable, and patent-free, but because it was *developed* at the BBC; expertise is internal. Although forcing a commercial company to support open standards - the basis of interoperability - may seem shocking to some, Europe's second highest court saw fit to confirm one and a half billion euros in fines for Microsoft for unlawful product tying and failing to interoperate with competitors. Check out Commissioner Reding's speech of two days ago where she insists mobile TV should be open standards based (advocating open DRM by the way), and threatening regulation if the industry doesn't choose open standards by itself. Sean. On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 4:46 PM, Alan Ogilvie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From Sean's email... > > [snip] > > There is precedent: the BBC managed to convince Real to make a > BBC-specific player, after all. > [/snip] > > The RealPlayer build that the BBC distributes was changed by Real to > match our policies regarding personal data and advertising, and not the > codecs that were contained within it. So I don't really see how this > follows your argument that the BBC-specific build of RealPlayer is a > 'precedent' of a large broadcaster 'forcing' a commercial company use > offer specific codecs. > > Alan > > > > - > 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]/ > - 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]/
