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Re: [News] [Rival] The MSBBC is Advertising Windows Vista, at No Cost

____/ Kier on Sunday 30 December 2007 12:47 : \____

> On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:19:29 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> ____/ Kier on Sunday 30 December 2007 00:04 : \____
>> 
>>> On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:29:16 +0000, Mark Kent wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>>> ____/ Kier on Tuesday 25 December 2007 23:10 : \____
>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I agree, Kier. Merry Christmas. Please don't perceive this 'vendetta'
>>>>>>> as something that's directed at yourself. These discussions hopefully
>>>>>>> help resolve the issues that exist.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Well, that's certainly what disscussion groups are meant for ;-)
>>>>> 
>>>>> We know for a fact that it's the pressure from the public and 2 lobbying
>>>>> groups that had iPlayer available for other platforms. Pressure helps. If
>>>>> it weren't for the call for action, everything other than Windows would
>>>>> be totally ignored.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> There will be no iPlayer for non-Vista platforms.  There is an adobe-based
>>>> streaming solution, but apparently it is limited in many respects.
>>> 
>>> So far. The problem is DRM.
>> 
>> Yes, it's a problem. Everyone wants DRM *DEAD*, except Microsoft. It said it
>> out loud. The problem is not the use of DRM, which by the way can work on
>> Linux too.
> 
> I want it dead, too, but it isn't going to die overnight. And in a service
> where *free* downloads of stuff like shows of the calibre of Doctor Who
> are offered, there *has* to be some way of preventing people who aren't
> entitled to them (i.e non licence-fee payers) from ripping off the content

Yes. However:

Experience suggest that they who want to 'steal' content will do this easily
(e.g. with screengrabbers), so only legitimate end users will suffer. The BBC
kills preservation, which is ironic given is profile.

Remember:

Music DRM has just officially died. All 4 major labels have given up and
they'll sell DRM-free media for the same cost, which immediately renders DRM
moot. The same ought to go for video because there is little difference. IOW,
the days of DRM in general seem numbered. Encryption is made for security, not
access control (so-called 'enablement').

>>>> The pressure on the BBC forced the realisation of an alternative
>>>> streaming solution for non-Microsoft non-Vista users, but it's very much
>>>> the 2nd-class citizen, and will never have the 10s to 100s  of millions
>>>> thrown at it which the iPlayer had, because there is no way, politically,
>>>> that the BBC could get away with a c*ck-up of such awesome proportions
>>>> a second time in such short order.
>>> 
>>> How do you *know* all this? Or is it just guesswork?
>> 
>> By the way, the BBC said that next year the iPlayer (download service) would
>> be available for other platforms "such as the Mac" (quoting from memory).
>> Promises are not deeds, but we shall see. You still know who gets the big
>> money out of this fiasco.
> 
> So you're just guessing. Come on, Roy, you've got to do better than this.
> Keeping pressure on the BBC to fulfill its promise for a Linux version is
> fine, but blithely stating they aren't going to do what they've said they
> will, without any way of proving that they won't, isn't very smart.

I can see your point, but do remember that saying "pretty people, BBC, please
give us a Linux version" isn't quite as effective as exposing Erik Huggers
roots in the Microsoft antitrust case. It's the revelation of corruption that
gets their knickers in a wedgy. Only then will they try to quiet down
resistance to deliberate lock-in, which they gradually do.

>>>> Microsoft do not care - they have our money, including Kier's, and they
>>>> will offer nothing in return.
>>> 
>>> Proof, man, proof. You can't keep saying this stuff without offering
>>> actual evidence.
>> 
>> *LOL* Hasn't the BBC /already/ said that 130 million pounds were spent on
>> that binary blobs that is essentially spyware (it is!) and is inferior to
>> streaming solutions?
> 
> It may have spent the money, but where does it say it is spyware? That's
> your *opinion*. Not a fact. You've got to back these assertions up with
> *facts*, man.

No, it's a fact, Kier. The iPlayer sends a lot of personal information whenever
you access a video. That's a fact. *What* information is actually sent you
cannot tell because it's a binary blob. I'll find you the references if you
want them. I can't recall where exactly I read this, but it was a very
reliable source. Vista, by the way, is no exception. XP with WGA likewise.

-- 
                ~~ Best of wishes

Roy S. Schestowitz      |    Play Othello: http://othellomaster.com
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