On 28 Feb 2006, Adam Piggott wrote
And hey - once enough people are hacking around with the BBC's
audio offerings against their terms they'll decide to, or be
forced to, start DRMing them so even fewer people can enjoy them!
Or they won't even offer them at all - won't that be an
achievement!
A good point and a possible scenario -- but one which, I suspect,
hasn't factored in the wider threat that the BBC presents to content
control.
I think the more likely scenario -- given the Beeb's funding, remit,
and on-line track record -- is that they'll see the demand for
podcast-like downloads (rather than streams), and arrange to supply
that demand by providing downloadable links. (Suitably hedged; see
below.)
FWIW, if my business was focussed on controlling access to content,
I'd be a hell of a lot more worried about what the Beeb is planning
to do than I would about people who manage to turn the BBC streams
into podcasts.
Strange as it may seem, the the Beeb are pretty savvy -- and
technologically bolshie -- on this stuff: there's been a lot of
protest from the commercial sector on it. As well, they're *very*
aware of their funding base, and all the implications.
(For non-UK types who may not know the scale of these things, the BBC
is funded by a statutory requirement of every household with a
television capable of receiving broadcasts to purchase a licence. It
currently costs £120 (or so) per year, and this is what funds the BBC
-- income from overseas sales and such-like is gravy on top.)
This has led to interesting developments, like the whole "Listen
Again" phenomenon (which I don't think has been replicated on
anything like the same scale by other broadcasters -- not that I've
seen, anyway), and the on-going work to do the same for television.
An example of what they're trying was the live broadband feeds of the
Winter Olympics coverage: these were available on-line, but were
claimed to be available only to UK users. (I don't know how they
restricted it, but they clearly intended to do so.)
From what I've read of straws in the wind, the BBC is less concerned
with DRM, and more concerned with strengthening the means to identify
UK/non-UK users, so that a "free-to-licence-fee-but-charged-to-non-
licence-fee" model can be developed.
Understandably, it scares the hell out of the commercial sector.
In light of all this, my guess is that the BBC's most likely response
to downloading rather than streaming will be to package the "Listen
Again" service as podcasts -- and to try and find a way to make them
free to UK addresses, and chargeable for foreign-based addresses.
YM, of course, MV.
