If ony the BBC had been brave ...

... things could have been so different.

Watching the way Steve Jobs is applying pressure on the music indusrty to throw away DRM has been frustrating given that I have for a long time thought, and argued, that the BBC could have done the same for TV. Sadly they haven't had the insight or the courage.

As Cory says:

Who needs a "public service broadcaster" that criminalises its viewers, privileges monopolistic foreign software giants, and takes every measure to stop its audience watching telly in the way they see fit?

Comments

[ditdotdat]

Don't worry, their DRM will be broken in a flash. Apart from anything else, since they decided (surprise surprise) to only support Windows with their on-demand service there will be a great many Mac owners, including me, who will be doing their best to open up the platform.

[Jonathan Buck]

Yes, rather bizarre since it smells of exactly the same approach/arguments as the record companies all those years ago...

[ant]

BBC has a real knife edge to tread and for us it's not just about new stuff either. The archive is a particularly thorney area- basically we have extant agreements up to our eyeballs and beyond, and riding rough shod over that lot doesn't bear thinking about. Dealing with new content is far easier- no precedent. Glad they've (apple and EMI) done it- exstatic in fact- but I understand why is hasn't happend for the Beeb. Yet.

Also- I do recognise that the BBC in an effort to get stuff licensed good and quick for internet distribution oiled some wheels with cash, leading to other problems for the industry. Ah well, Gower's makes things a bit easier.

[Matthew Cashmore]

Actually I think that's quite a naive point if view.... have a listen to the DRM podcast from backstage to hear the real issues behind DRM and the iPlayer.

[ant]

naive? moi? Yeah probably.

[Michael]

I have some sympathy for them - it's the same issue that leads to lame library music replacing the original hits on DVD reissues of shows like northern exposure. Rights law and the draconian (see Lessig) extension of same in the US in particular. If you're a public service broadcaster, you can't simply break the rules and fight it out - that option just doesn't exist. Having said that, the iPlayer development hasn't exactly covered itself in glory...

[Michael Walsh]

Have you seen his latest post?

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/08/bbc_recruits_microso.html

"The 21st century doesn't need a "public service broadcaster" whose idea of public service is forcing you to buy your technology from a monopolist and preventing you from exercising your legal rights under copyright."

If this message starts to resonate on the jungle drums then a lot of kudos and respect the BBC has is in danger of being lost.

Exactly the reverse of the Steve Jobs scenario.

[carlo alberto]

Dear Euan, having read your post, I wonder if our italian public service will be able to cope with such a difficult challenge. In fact, long ago Rai Radio Televisione Italiana developed a player of its own, called Rai Click http://www.raiclicktv.it/raiclickpc/secure/homePage.srv
unfortunately its a Microsoft based player and no thought has been given to open source applets. So generally speaking, I think that, given the kudos and respect the Bbc has as Michale says, Rai is even in a worse position. The problem is widespread in Europe, where there is a lack of " Free Culture" quoting Lessig. I can just add that Bbc is working also on a drm project in the axmedil group.
/http://www.AXMEDIS.org/axmedis2007

Still I have to investigate. Thank you for the deep insight you give us all in the future of media.

[nick s]

basically we have extant agreements up to our eyeballs and beyond, and riding rough shod over that lot doesn't bear thinking about.

Perhaps it does. Perhaps it'll take someone brave enough to take a deep breath and force the rights-holders to deal with a new status quo, rather than have them hang like albatrosses around the necks of both the BBC and the licence-payers. Someone to say "we're doing this, here's what we're offering, deal with it."

Yes, if you're a rich private tech corporation, you have more financial leverage to do it: Google will stuff Sumner Redstone's mouth with gold and Viacom will deal with YouTube, because the genie's out of that bottle.

The Trust has shown itself not just useless here, but utterly craven. I sometimes wince at Cory's vehemence on these issues, but he's absolutely right here: public service broadcasting that presumes the public to be thieves call. The internal rationales that follow from independent production may matter within the BBC, but that's just too bad for both: the producers know the value of the BBC branding, and the BBC knows the privileges and responsibilities of its position.

We know who the good guys inside the BBC are. We also know that the rollout of a DRM-crippled player will prove them right. Time to show our support for those people before the recriminations begin, to ensure that they're in a stronger position to dictate what comes next.

[nick s]

Ugh. Must preview. 'Public service broadcasting that presumes the public to be thieves calls its own purpose into question.'