Open Letter to Ashley Highfield
,----[ Quote
| To be honest, Ashley, whilst the BBC, a state-funded institution which is
| supposed to be commercially independent, remains so firmly "in bed" with
| Microsoft, we have our doubts whether what you say is anything other than
| smoke and mirrors, FUD and Microsoft-sourced propaganda.
`----
vhttp://www.opensourceconsortium.org/content/view/77/55/
OSC Analysis: responding to BBC arguments
,----[ Quote ]
| 'It's not exclusively Microsoft'
| The streaming 'version' of iPlayer is not the iPlayer, and the BBC Trust have
| made clear that it does not meet the terms under which your proposal was
| approved. The full iPlayer download software (which is the whole rationale of
| the iPlayer) requires Microsoft DRM and requires a Microsoft operating system
| (currently XP but soon to include Vista) and requires software components
| written to the Microsoft operating system and technology stack. It is
| exclusively Microsoft.
`----
http://www.opensourceconsortium.org/content/view/78/55/
Related:
BBC loses 97200 Linux users
,----[ Quote ]
| "We have 17.1 million users of bbc.co.uk in the UK and, as far as our server
| logs can make out, 5 per cent of those [use Macs] and around 400 to 600 are
| Linux users" Highfield is quoted as saying.
`----
http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1781.html
Confused BBC tech chief: Only 600 Linux users visit our website
,----[ Quote
| Ooops. Highfield goes on to say that these users should be seen in the
| context of the vast majority, who run Windows.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/02/highfield_bbc_linux_website_users_bafflement/
BBC on the iPlayer
,----[ Quote ]
| An interesting podcast with Ashley Highfield, Director Future Media &
| Technology....Clearly there’s a vast amount of money to be made by
| selling “DRM” solutions to gullible old media companies. It is sad that the
| BBC, who don’t even have to protect their profits, do not have the collective
| brains to see through this scam. Perhaps there is light at the end of the
| tunnel? -- "Where do we go from here? … The solution then is to say either we
| look at a future beyond DRM or we’re going to find it very hard to put our
| content onto open source solutions."
|
| But he is just teasing - they don’t actually look at this future, so I guess
| their choice is to not put their content onto open source solutions!
|
| [...]
|
| I think he needs to add Parliament to his list of people to work better with,
| after the recent lunacy from Lord Triesman
`----
http://www.links.org/?p=269
Interview with Mark Taylor, Pres. of UK Open Source Consortium, by Sean Daly
,----[ Quote ]
| Q: Now, when you say a smoking gun, what exactly do you mean?
|
| Mark Taylor: Well, the -- (laughter) -- the thing is, the iPlayer is not what
| it claimed to be, it is built top-to-bottom on a Microsoft-only stack, the
| BBC management team who are responsible for the iPlayer are a checklist of
| senior employees from Microsoft who were involved with Windows Media. A
| gentleman called Erik Huggers who's responsible for the iPlayer project in
| the BBC, his immediately previous job was director at Microsoft for Europe,
| Middle East & Africa responsible for Windows Media. He presided over the
| division of Windows Media when it was the subject of the European
| Commission's antitrust case. He was the senior director responsible. He's now
| shown up responsible for the iPlayer project.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071021231933899
BBC Corrupted
,----[ Quote ]
| Today the BBC made it official -- they have been corrupted by Microsoft. With
| today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most basic of
| duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line distribution
| of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a Microsoft operating
| system to view BBC programming on the web. This is akin to saying you must
| own a Sony TV set to watch BBC TV. And you must accept the Digital
| Restrictions Management (DRM) that the iPlayer imposes. You simply cannot be
| allowed to be in control of your computer according to the BBC.
`----
http://defectivebydesign.org/blog/BBCcorrupted
Ubuntu Linux maker joins OSC over iPlayer campaign
,----[ Quote ]
| As the Internet becomes part of everyone's lives - we will all go online
| using more types of device. Locking access to BBC iPlayer content to phones
| and internet tablets running Windows(tm) is shortsighted and bad for
| fee-payers. Platform neutral means that we need
| a solution that supports Linux and Apple's OSX."
|
| We fully support the OSC's vital campaign that the iPlayer support Linux and
| trust that the BBC sees why this is in the interest of feepayers."
`----
http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=33204&hilite=
What tricks is the BBC up to with Microsoft?
,----[ Quote ]
| The twin elephants in the meeting room will be Microsoft's Silverlight and
| PlayReady.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/16/silverlight_iplayer_playready/
BBC's iPlayer's Prospects Looking Bleak
,----[ Quote ]
| "The future of iPlayer, the BBC's new online on-demand system for delivering
| content, is continuing to look bleaker. With ISPs threatening to throttle the
| content delivered through the iPlayer, consumers petitioning the UK
| government and the BBC to drop the DRM and Microsoft-only technology, and
| threatened legal action from the OSC, the last thing the BBC wanted to see
| today was street protests at their office and at the BBC Media Complex
| accompanied by a report issued by DefectiveByDesign about their association
| with Microsoft."
`----
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/15/1721229&from=rss
BBC iPlayer protest report
,----[ Quote
| First on site with me is Tom Chance, Green Party spokesperson on Free
| Software. He has organized for Dr Derek Wall, lead spokesperson for the Green
| Party to join us and make some statements about BBC iPlayer and the Microsoft
| lock-in it establishes.
|
| [...]
|
| We have 1500 fliers to distribute, that focus on the key issue with the
| iPlayer, and why $130 Million and 4 years of development don't get you much
| when you choose Microsoft DRM.
`----
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/iPlayerProtestReport
Lobby Group: Microsoft Too Close to BBC
,----[ Quote ]
| A software lobby group is campaigning to highlight the role of software giant
| Microsoft Corp. in the British Broadcasting Corp.'s digital media strategy by
| petitioning Great Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown to address the issue.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070803/microsoft_bbc.html?.v=1
EC threat to BBC over downloads
,----[ Quote ]
| However, OSC disagrees and says the next step is to make a formal
| complaint to the European Commission (EC).
|
| "We're preparing the full details at the moment and we will be
| sending a formal letter within the next week," said Mr Taylor.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6236612.stm
BBC plans to lock viewers into Microsoft monopoly says Open Source Consortium
,----[ Quote ]
| The Open Source Consortium (OSC) believes the plans are anti-competitive
| and will use public money to lock viewers into the technologies of
| a repeatedly convicted monopolist.
`----
http://www.publictechnology.net/article_avantgo.php?sid=7655
|
|
