BBC iPlayer now for everybody!

[Ric_]

The BBC has now launched the Flash-based version of its iPlayer so that those of us that pay our license fee like the Windoze users can also watch on our Macs/Linux boxen.

 

Check it out at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

[localzuk]

What about those who use Lynx? Hmmm?? There's always someone left out!

[Oops_my_bad]

Cue all the ISP's moaning about not having enough bandwith/lack of investment etc..

[Joedetic]

There has been a small problem with it under linux so my mate tells me (I've not had a chance to test it out myself yet as my laptop is ever so slightly boned and needs a reinstall ). He says that videos are cutting out and giving some message about streaming.

 

Isolated case maybe? We'll have to wait and see. But it is good news that they are considering the alternative OS's. When I was at LugRadio Live earlier this year one of the iPlayer team was there. He came under some pretty heavy fire...poor guy.

[mattx]

The BBC has now launched the Flash-based version of its iPlayer so that those of us that pay our license fee like the Windoze users can also watch on our Macs/Linux boxen.

 

You could watch stuff if you DLed the torrents from various web sites - legal ones too like UK Nova. http://www.uknova.com/

 

Been doing that for years......

 

I found the BBC iplayer to be a load of sh1t along with other related software that shoves any DRM related nonsence on a PC.

[torledo]

The BBC has now launched the Flash-based version of its iPlayer so that those of us that pay our license fee like the Windoze users can also watch on our Macs/Linux boxen.

 

You could watch stuff if you DLed the torrents from various web sites - legal ones too like UK Nova. http://www.uknova.com/

 

Been doing that for years......

 

I found the BBC iplayer to be a load of sh1t along with other related software that shoves any DRM related nonsence on a PC.

 

Agree the iplayer is a load of *%*, maybe the bbc can now turn their attention to supporting flash video for webclips on the news site instead of continuing to offer only wm or real. I mean it's only three years since youtube proved we don't need wm or real plugins for good web video

 

{No swearing please - Z}

[localzuk]

I don't get why the BBC use DRM for video's which we are legally entitled to record to our own media anyway. I'm entitled to record every episode of Top Gear from BBC 2 on to my PC so why have the download service DRM filled?

 

But I agree on the news clips! Be gone real player. Be gone windows media player. Bring on flv!

[ICT_GUY]

Its nice, but I agree, for school I want to be able to save a program to use at a later date.

[mrforgetful]

@torledo - I don't know if Youtube proved we can have good video, it just provided small video. The tradeoff is the severe lack of visual and audio quality compared to WM or Real.

 

@localzuk - Maybe it's because it's only legal for you to watch it, not for people outside the UK.

[gwendes]

UKNova falls into quite a grey area. Copyrighted material is still protected and you are not legally entitled to record from the TV.

[Andrew_C]

Copyrighted material is still protected and you are not legally entitled to record from the TV.

You are if you are in a school with an ERA licence. Schools can also share digital recordings with other schools if you have the ERA+ licence (new).

 

There are schemes being set up to share more digital media once the ERA+ licence has been taken up.

[torledo]

@torledo - I don't know if Youtube proved we can have good video, it just provided small video. The tradeoff is the severe lack of visual and audio quality compared to WM or Real.

 

@localzuk - Maybe it's because it's only legal for you to watch it, not for people outside the UK.

 

Er, flash video IS good video, it's even better with a third party encoder and the sorenson flash codec. I'd rather have the near instantaneous playback/buffering, ubiquity and cross platform support of flash video and put up with the slightly inferior quality when it comes to web delivery.

FLV has won the war.

 

Not sure why bbc have gone down the DRM route, it seems the thing to do for content providers :x What bugs me is providers like the bbc insisting on a miminum of WM10 for wm playback. I'm still on WM9 and I think it's the best media player, WM11 is a big no no...I'll never go near it, or Vista for that matter.

[dhicks]

[mrforgetful wrote:]

> I don't know if Youtube proved we can have good video, it just

> provided small video. The tradeoff is the severe lack of visual and audio

> quality compared to WM or Real.

 

I think YouTube has proved that, for a wide range of uses, small video is just fine. Sure, bigger/better/faster/louder is nice, but a small YouTube video is acceptable. This is why DRM to protect DVDs will simply never work - even if the DRM encoding actually worked, someone interested in copying a movie could always simply point a video camera at a TV screen.

 

I've not done much with Flash video (I'm still on Studio MX 2004 - must get around to upgrading before the upgrade fees between versions totally skyrocket), but I figure that a web/Flash-based video editor should be workable. Something basic like Windows Movie Maker, with Flash doing the user interface and the server doing the rendering, should be possible.

 

> Maybe it's because it's only legal for you to watch it, not for people

> outside the UK.

 

I understood that the BBC were limiting connections to UK-based IP addresses only, although exactly how well such a systems works I'm not sure.

 

--

David Hicks

[intrigue]

UKNova falls into quite a grey area. Copyrighted material is still protected and you are not legally entitled to record from the TV.

 

So i pay 120 quid a year and i am not allowed to record the tv? Something is wrong with that.

 

Matt

[zag]

Excellent, works really well and instant streaming!

 

Now all we have to do is stop the kids watching top gear in lessons!

[SimpleSi]

a year and i am not allowed to record the tv?

 

As you get older - you get to find out that there is a lot more wrong with reality than that

 

regards

Simon

[sahmeepee]

UKNova falls into quite a grey area. Copyrighted material is still protected and you are not legally entitled to record from the TV.

 

Legally you are allowed to record from the TV for the purposes of "timeshifting".

 

So i pay 120 quid a year and i am not allowed to record the tv? Something is wrong with that.

 

Matt

 

I wouldn't even say UKNova is in a grey area - your tv license doesn't give you carte blanche to use the content however you want and distributing it on torrent sites is almost certainly not allowed. UKNova play fair though and try to keep their infringements within the spirit of the law which I think would protect them from too much unwanted attention.

 

The reason a lot of content from the BBC (say) isn't available online is that they don't make it and are only licensed to broadcast it in certian specific ways. UKNova's rationale is that they only distribute stuff which has no commercial alternative (i.e. not sold on DVD etc.) and so "nobody loses", which to you or I seems fair enough, but legally wouldn't stand up.

 

UPDATE: When I try it times out loading the programme, straight after the ident. Possibly our LEA have blocked the video source or there are a lot of people hitting it at once.

[john]

Also nice thing about the flash version means you can just grab the FLV file quickly and easily with no fuss