Re: [Fsfe-uk] BBC's DRM Iplayer windows only

[Tim Dobson]

On 29/12/2007, Dave Crossland <address@hidden> wrote:
> iPlayer streaming works on GNU/Linux with Adobe's _proprietary_ Flash
> player that has DRM streaming functionality - although this is not
> turned on _yet_.

This is true. It is important to note here, that although flash runs
on GNU/Linux. It does so under a non-free Licence. While this makes
it, to some degree, platform independant, it is only as platform
dependant as flash, which is not very platform independant in my
experience.
Now for me, platform independance isn't all the issue. DRM and being
non-free are the issues.

On 29/12/2007, Dave Crossland <address@hidden> wrote:
> l see no reason we should encourage people to use proprietary software
> that implements DRM.

Here, Here. In fact one of the things I think we should be doing is
lobbying BBC, ITV & C4 about "Kangaroo", so they can jump in while
they have the chance and design it using Free Software. Otherwise they
won't even think to use it. We need to give them some seriously loud
advice to use Free Software, and if we did, I think they would. All
Ashley Highfields blubbering about content providors mistrust etc.
would vanish if this got some high level publicity.

On 29/12/2007, Neil Darlow <address@hidden> wrote:
> > There is a BBC iplayer forum [3]. It may be worth creating Linux-related
> > thread(s) there.

I didn't know there were kernel developers on the BBC Forums! Quick I
need to ask them about why 2.6.25 isn't compiling on ARM! ;)

On 29/12/2007, Dave Crossland <address@hidden> wrote:
> Asking them to use "GNU/Linux" would be good though :-)

In my experience, the BBC has been quite good at using GNU/Linux. As
to whether they know why they are using it, that is a different
matter, but on several occasions Highfield has mentioned "GNU/Linux".
So this is at least getting through to him.

-- 
www.dobo.urandom.co.uk
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