ORG at Lugradio Live 2007
So I’ve just returned from Lugradio Live 2007, where there seemed to be a lot of enthusiasm for the work ORG has been doing over the last year. Thanks to Glyn and Richard for their dedication in manning the ORG stall. Together we met a lot of ORG supporters, and found a few more!
There was much concern over the BBC’s soon-to-launch iPlayer and its use of Microsoft DRM, to the exclusion of Linux and Mac users. You can read ORG’s submission to the BBC Trust (pdf), and there’s still time to sign this e-petition and draw Downing Street’s attention to the situation.
It’s hard to know how to get the BBC to listen to the concerns of Linux and Mac users on this issue, so please leave suggestions for further action in the comments, and watch this space.
July 9th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
>> It’s hard to know how to get the BBC to listen to the concerns of Linux and Mac users on this issue
I genuinely believe that everyone in a position of decision making power at the BBC over the iPlayer DRM understands exactly the concerns of Linux and Mac users.
They also understand that spending the initial outlay on a service *that may not even have been approved for launch* on the platform that penetrates over 90% of the computer market in the UK made financial sense.
And they also understand that at present no DRM regime on Mac or Linux meets the requirements of the independent producers who own between a quarter and half of the content being distributed by the BBC.
The question, for me, is more of about how to get Linux and Mac users to understand the position of the rights-holders. It is the rights-holders who have forced the BBC into this position, alongside the other main channels in the UK who are also only offering Windows services, and they are the people the ORG should be lobbying and convincing.
July 10th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Martin - I agree that working with rightsholders is a key strategy, and it is something the Open Rights Group is working on doing in the near future.
The information I have seen about the iPlayer suggests that it will only work with Windows XP and Vista, and I’m not so sure that these are the operating systems used by 90% of computer users. They may well be in the future, especially if they are the only operating systems compatible with BBC iPlayer content!
I take your point that the BBC already understands the concerns of Mac and Linux users. Perhaps it is not acting on them because it feels, as you suggest, that it cannot. In that case, beyond educating rightsholders, is there anywhere else ORG can pressure for change?
July 10th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
>> The information I have seen about the iPlayer suggests that it will only work with Windows XP and Vista, and I’m not so sure that these are the operating systems used by 90% of computer users.
Fair point Becky: Windows XP + Vista != all Windows users, and I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that in the beta trial there are some problems with Vista.
I would have thought off-hand two places that might be worth trying to talk to and pressurise would be PACT and BIPA. OFCOM also have a stake in the way this whole area of the market develops.
Personally, I would reather see DRM-free and platform agnostic anyday - but I’m fairly certain in the BBC’s shoes that I would have made the same decision. I’d be wanting to fast-track the Mac development though.
July 12th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
It looks like OfCom may have intervened. The Register is reporting today that OfCom have put pressure on the BBC Trust to meet with the Open Source Consortium, after the OSC threatened to take its anti-trust concerns to Europe.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/12/bbc_osc_meeting/
July 14th, 2007 at 10:04 am
[...] Next, the speakers. They all did a great job, some travelling from hugely far afield (America, Indonesia, across Europe), and people seem to have enjoyed the talks they went to. Special mention goes to Ted Haaeeeaaeaeeeeagaeeaer for using every swear-word he could think of now that he doesn’t work for Novell any more, Bruno and MrBen for the Great LugRadio Quiz, Steve Lamb, Chris diBona, and Becky Hogge from the Open Rights Group for what I thought was the most interesting talk of the day. Des Burley from my law firm, Mills and Reeve, gets an extra mention for not only doing a talk but ably coping with me putting him on the spot by asking questions about patents during LugRadio Live and Unleashed. Extra-special bonus thanks go to a chap called Chris Hallam (or something similar), who’s responsible for the BBC iPlayer, and who I pulled up on stage with no preparation to receive a booting from Becky and the audience about the iPlayer only working on Windows. Chris, I don’t know how your last name is spelled and so I’m having difficulty getting hold of you to say thankyou: if you read this, or if anyone reads this who knows who Chris is, can they contact me? [...]