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Re: [LUG] HTML5 DRM

 

 On 17/04/2013 20:47, bad apple wrote:
On 17/04/13 18:49, Rob Beard wrote:
On 17/04/13 17:31, Kai Hendry wrote:
The BBC are the big proponents of DRM in HTML video. So the British
tax payer only has themselves to blame.
http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2013/02/bbc-attacks-the-open-web-gnulinux-in-danger/index.htm


Complain to BBC?

 From what I've read the BBC are kinda being forced to use DRM as a
requirement of the media companies who supply the BBC with some of the
content (I'm sure I read somewhere that the majority of stuff
broadcast on the BBC these days is from other suppliers which they
don't hold the rights for).

Rob

No, Kai was right on this one - the BBC are very much pushing a DRM
agenda where they don't need to. Partly it's leverage against hardware
manufacturers and partly it's just the usual misguided reasons for DRM
(stop casual piracy, etc).

Now if it was a normal company, I'd mock them, refuse to buy their stuff
and call it a day. However, it's the bloody BBC which are tax-payer
funded! So they are working directly against the interests of all of
their users.

I'll dig out some links in a bit, but I'm right in the middle of several
jobs now so it'll have to wait.

Regards

As far as I know, if we're purely talking about online content, the BBC can block people viewing iPlayer (for example) simply by blocking IPs outside the UK. Although I know this can be circumvented I'm not sure how easy it would be for the less technically adept. DRM in that case would be primarily targeting UK licence payers wouldn't it?

It would be interesting to see how DRM stacks up against the proposed changes to the law allowing format-shifting (assuming they go through at some point). How could you format-shift if it's locked down by DRM?

Didn't Bill Gates state publicly a few years ago that DRM isn't fit for purpose anyway? C'mere Google..

http://tinyurl.com/247nkuq - 2006.. OK not exactly as bald as that but near enough.. so of course we still use it..

Kind regards,

Julian

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