BBC's download iPlayer goes titsup
,----[ Quote ]
| Reg readers who use the Windows-only desktop application noticed performace
| problems earlier this week. Now the whole system, which is based on
| Verisign's Kontiki peer-to-peer distribution platform, has been taken
| offline.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/14/iplayer_p2p_database_snafu/
And the disaster continues. The BBC should have never collaborated with
Microsoft in the first place (and funnelled taxpayers' money to a criminal
monopolist that is *still* caught bribing on a regular basis). Telecom Italia
has just dumped Microsoft for a reason (no Microsoft IPTV anymore).
Meanwhile, Mary Jo Foley and the boys from Microsoft spread the Silverfish
plague. You can't view a video interview of hers. Microsoft is trying to pull
another ActiveX while the EC investigates such abuse.
Related:
BBC iPlayer on GNU/Linux without Flash using only free software
,----[ Quote ]
| A bit of background to this. The BBC is funded by every single household with
| a TV in the UK (except old people). iPlayer is a platform for watching BBC
| shows you've missed. Initially iPlayer was Windows XP only, and we had a
| protest about it in London and in Manchester. Then, they released a Flash
| version, but as Flash isn't free software, users of free software operating
| systems were still left in the cold. Ashley Highfield estimated there were
| 400 GNU/Linux users in the UK, and was proven badly wrong.
|
| A few days ago, they launched an iPhone version, even though they've still
| not released a GNU/Linux version.
|
| You'll need:
|
| * Iceweasel, GNUzilla or Mozilla Firefox
| * User Agent Switcher
| * Firebug
|
| [...]
|
| You'll get an MP4 file which you can play in VLC, Totem, etc. No DRM. You
| might want to rename it to something sensible.
|
| Gnash is a free software plugin for Flash. If you're not already using it,
| please take this time to download and use it instead of Flash.
`----
http://exploringfreedom.org/2008/03/08/bbc-iplayer-on-gnu-linux-without-flash-using-only-free-software/
iPlayer coming to Macs... but no word on Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Highlighting the marginal Linux audience is a risky move for Thomson, after
| his director of future media and technology, Ashley Highfield, got himself
| into hot water with open-source advocates last year by declaring the BBC
| website had only 400-600 Linux users every week.
`----
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/163722/iplayer-coming-to-macs-but-no-word-on-linux.html
Status Quo: Can't watch the news in Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| As you can see, we had one site that improved (CBS News) and one site that
| has actually gotten worse (BBC News). Congratulations to CBS news for joining
| the 21-century. I am not sure what to say about BBC News. Apparently, the BBC
| is now using a new video player called the "BBC iPlayer", which only supports
| Microsoft Windows operating systems. Because of this, there was a lot of
| controversy about the highly restricted player, including this petition.
`----
http://useopensource.blogspot.com/2008/01/status-quo-cant-watch-news-in-linux.html
BBC Director General grilled by MPs on iPlayer
,----[ Quote ]
| During the meeting there is discussion of iPlayer’s total cost to the licence
| fee-payer - the BBC representatives are unable to give a figure, but start
| the bidding at £20m, excluding staff costs. Thomson gives incorrect
| information - that Mac and Linux versions of iPlayer have the same
| functionality as Windows versions - and has to change his evidence at the
| end. Perhaps it was this confusion that prompted Dr John Pugh MP to follow up
| the encounter with a letter direct to Mark Thomson today discussing platform
| neutrality in greater detail. A copy of this letter has been passed to the
| Open Rights Group.
`----
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2008/01/10/bbc-director-general-grilled-by-mps-on-iplayer/
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
BBC iPlayer Protests
,----[ Quote ]
| Who are the people responsible for creating this mess?
|
| * Mark Thompson, BBC director general (DG)
| * Erik Huggers, group controller at BBC Future Media & Technology
| * Ashley Highfield, director of new media and technology
|
| Right now, there is very considerable concern within the BBC that the actions
| of the Director General and his team are sending the corporation in the wrong
| direction. The BBC has been embroiled in a number of recent controversies,
| all linked back to the DG's leadership.
`----
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/iPlayerProtest
Why Linux Users Should Be Furious At BBC
,----[ Quote ]
| Recently the BBC had a bit of a wake up call regarding numbers and how many
| Linux users were really out there. Why does any of this matter? It has to do
| with something the BBC provides called the iPlayer. Seriously, relying on
| ActiveX is so "1990's" that it's painful, and as luck would have it, the
| Linux users who wish to use this BBC player made sure that the BBC knew that
| they were making the sought after content inaccessible to those people using
| Linux.
|
| No iPlayer for Linux Users, But There Will Be An Alternative. Based on what I
| have been able to gather thus far, it looks like we will see an Adobe Flash
| option coming out soon. Then again, who really cares? Seriously, if the BBC
| is this foolish to ignore how much Linux growth is taking place both in the
| UK as well as the surrounding countries, then maybe people ought to be
| looking elsewhere? Is it because this is indeed, the BBC? So there is the
| belief that this is the people's media? Up until now, I enjoyed much of what
| the BBC had to offer, but this entire thing is enough to have pushed me away.
`----
http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2731&Itemid=449
Beeb slammed for 'fawning' to Bill Gates
,----[ Quote ]
| BBC viewers have flooded the corporation with complaints over how it
| covered the launch of Microsoft Vista earlier this week.
|
| In one cringingly servile interview worthy of Uriah Heep, the
| Beeb's news presenter Hugh Edwards even thanked Gates at the
| end of it, presumably in appreciation at being allowed to give
| the Vole vast coverage for free.
|
| In other TV news items presenters excitedly explained how Vistac
| ould be obtained and installed - details courtesy of the BBC's
| website.
|
| But British viewers, currently forced to pay a £131.50 licence
| fee to maintain the BBC's "impartiality", were less than impressed.
|
| Scores got in touch to complain that so much was Auntie up Bill's
| bum that you could barely see her corset.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37411
http://slated.org/bbc_microsoft_bias
BBC: Death by a thousand top-slices
,----[ Quoet ]
| So it looks like the end of the unique, state-centric model for funding the
| BBC. An incoming Conservative administration is unlikely to be more
| sympathetic to the BBC, with its stifling bureucracy and monopoly control
| over a compulsory tax.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/18/bbc_top_slicing/
|
|
