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____/ Homer on Saturday 19 Sep 2009 22:17 : \____
> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>> Ofcom Fails to Get the Message [Updated]
> [...]
>> http://slated.org/bbc_microsoft_bias
>
> Here's another message:
>
> [quote]
> With reference to your request for comments regarding the BBC's proposal
> to encrypt the programme information stream of their forthcoming HD
> broadcasts, I wish to register my concerns.
>
> I find it wholly unacceptable (and quite ironic) that a service I am
> forced to pay for, simply because I own a television set, is now
> proposing to limit my ability to view their broadcasts.
>
> Either I am licensed to view BBC content, or I am not. If I am, then it
> should be none of the BBC's concern what method I use to view that
> content. If I wish to use equipment officially "endorsed" by the BBC, or
> if I wish to use a self-built PVR running my own choice of software, I
> should be able to do so without the BBC imposing restrictions on my
> activities, but their proposed DRM system will indeed impose such a
> restriction.
>
> This restriction will also compel me to purchase equipment manufactured
> only by certain companies, which I feel is also in violation of the
> spirit of the BBC's charter of impartiality. Is it right that the BBC
> should essentially endorse products in this way?
>
> I would also question the effectiveness of DRM systems in general. My
> understanding is, that due to the BBC's charter prohibiting the
> encryption of the actual data streams, it is only the programme
> information stream that will be encrypted, and there are methods of
> circumventing this to access the content directly, thus completely
> defeating the object of this futile exercise. Should BBC license payers'
> money be wasted on such ridiculous measures?
>
> To the best of my knowledge, every DRM system ever implemented has been
> circumvented in one way or another. The DVD consortium's CSS DRM was
> broken very soon after its release. Sony's Blu-Ray AACS and BD+ DRM
> systems have now both been broken. Apple's FairPlay DRM was circumvented
> by software called QTFairUse and others. Microsoft's WMP DRM system was
> circumvented by software called FairUse4WM. Even the BBC's iPlayer
> service has a loophole that enables people to obtain unencrypted
> versions of the content. Wasting time, effort, and license payers' money
> on a system that has failed before it's even begun, is probably not the
> best use of resources ... especially when at least part of those
> resources are coming from my pocket.
>
> And beyond considerations of costs and practical restrictions, I find
> DRM technology deeply sinister and cynical. Self-appointed corporate
> "police" monitoring and restricting my activities, is not something I
> find appropriate for a public institution such as the BBC. Copyright law
> is a perfectly adequate protection for television programmes - it isn't
> for the BBC nor its "content providers" to assume the role of a private
> judicial system, seeking to further inflate its bulging coffers, by
> squeezing every last drop of blood from its already heavily taxed
> customers. Consumers are already expected to pay multiple times, to be
> "licensed" to view exactly the same content, each and every time they
> acquire that same content in different formats. The very last thing we
> need is the BBC adding to this blatant exploitation with yet another
> instrument of extortion.
>
> The fact is that those who would most likely violate copyright law, are
> those who will have the least difficulty and moral dilemma circumventing
> any technological measure used to enforce those copyrights, and those
> who will be most inconvenienced by these measures are ordinary people
> who simply want to view the content in a perfectly legal manner, but
> without the Draconian restriction proposed by the BBC.
>
> I respectfully submit these concerns for your review.
> [/quote]
>
> http://slated.org/save_the_bbc_from_drm
Oh, I saw it an hour ago. This has already reached the American
press too (thus more pressure on the MSBBC).
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Don't ReBoot, BeRoot. -- adb
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy pts/0 :0 Sat Sep 19 15:11 still logged in
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
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