August 2008 update: The new BBC iPlayer, with its new selection of BBC TV programmes available for a week, plus all BBC Radio programmes available live is a huge improvement on the original iPlayer download-only service referred to in my article below. It combines ease of use and excellent video quality at relatively low bandwidths. The new iPlayer is definitely a huge step forward. Hopefully the copyright restrictions which force the use of DRM and downloading will progressively be lifted.
Please Note: This article won’t tell you how to crack The BBC iPlayer DRM or tell you how to uninstall the iPlayer. It contains my and other peoples opinions on DRM and the iPlayer and some useful links at the foot of the page, but that’s all.
I’ve heard a bit about the new BBC iPlayer, so I thought I’d sign up for the Beta service. It was a short and disappointing experience, but then getting into bed with Microsoft, as the BBC has done, you’d expect that to be the case. Initially, in my ignorance, I tried to access the player with the Firefox browser and I got this message:
Sorry, but to use the BBC iPlayer you need the following
- Windows XP
- Internet Explorer
- Windows Media Player
So that was that. My choice of browser isn’t Microsoft, so I’m excluded from this BBC service. However, never to be beaten I found the link to Microsoft ’s Internet Explorer and logged into my account again, and it said exactly the same, except I had three green ticks, but I still couldn’t use it. So I read the Help section.
My problem is to do with the fact that although Windows Media Player is installed on my computer (can you completely uninstall it? I don’t think so), I don’t have Media Player 10 or later. Why should I need to upgrade anyway? Most of my media types are handled by the wonderful open source VLC Media Player. The rest are handled by Real Alternative, another open souce player for Real Media. I won’t install the Real Networks player because it’s bloatware and full of adverts.
I then started looking around on the web for more information on this tie-up between my beloved BBC – champion of open access – and Microsoft – champion of paid access. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is at the core of it all – trying to restrict the access to digital media. In an era when DRM is failing to work as planned. There are programmes and techniques available to remove the restrictions, and new cracks appear as quickly as Microsoft can bring out patches. Apple and EMI have already removed DRM from some downloaded iTunes music, this BBC iPlayer turkey seems like a step backwards.
There are plenty of unhappy people out there talking about the BBC-Microsoft relationship. Here are two excellent articles. BBC Corrupted and BBC iPlayer Protests on the Defective by Design website. They explain the problem clearly. Here is a quote:
The BBC Tradition
“It wasn’t always so. The BBC has a long history of doing the right thing, and for supporting open access. One of the most recent battles came in 2003 when the BBC decided not to encrypt satellite transmissions, even though it was said that Rupert Murdoch’s Sky satellite network would remove the BBC from the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) listing. Piling on the pressure, the US media companies said they would not supply the BBC if its broadcasts were unencrypted. But in the end the BBC stood firm. Murdoch and US media were the ones who capitulated.
“The BBC doesn’t need encryption, and it certainly doesn’t need Microsoft.”
Microsoft is a very thick wedge, and this tie-up with the BBC is the thin end of it.
Other people have a less negative attitude to DRM. Martin Belam points out that DRM restrictions don’t need to make programmes permanently uncrackable, they “only have to stay in place sufficiently in order to keep the rights holders happy that their subsequent DVD releases, repeat transmission fees and overseas sales revenue are not going to be decimated by the iPlayer“. He continues:
“Of course the DRM won’t stop piracy, or stop the computer-savvy ripping Windows Media streams into their preferred Ogg Vorbis format, or stop people using UKNova, but it tends to make the expected level of piracy tolerable for the people investing in television production.”
While the BBC is giving lumps of our license fee to Microsoft other Open Source and DRM free video solutions move on apace. I’ve recently started to use Miro – www.getmiro.com. It’s easy to install and use and is available for PC, Mac OSX and Linux. You won’t get any official BBC stuff on it, however I did use the search facility and found an episode of “Have I Got News for You” with Jeremy Clarkson chairing, hosted on the Google video site. It was in 4 parts totalling 100Mb, but once downloaded by Miro I can watch it when I want and share it if I want.
I’m sure the BBC will catch up with the DRM-free movement eventually. It’s just a pity that first they have to waste so much money proving that the current DRM model just doesn’t work.
Other rants on the BBC iPlayer
Actor Robert Llewellyn of Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge fame has done this video on YouTube about the iPlayer.
In case you didn’t catch it, the free copy software Robert refers to is The Jing Project. Although you can copy videos playing on your screen into Flash format using Jing, the latest version has a 5 minute recording limit. I have also found the file sizes to be much larger and the resolution smaller than, say the equivalent DiVX encoded avi video. I use Jing for recording and sharing screen-capture tutorial videos for clients who can’t get to my office. For that it is brilliant! And for some more rants:
- Five things that are wrong with BBC iPlayer
- Why the BBC Trust’s decision on iPlayer sells us all short
- Why is the iPlayer a multi million pound disaster?
Other alternatives to the iPlayer
New: My post of February 9th 2008 describes the TV recording service TVCatchup.com
More information on the iPlayer and DRM Cracking
- Mine all Mine-BBC Radio 4 series about Intellectual Property Rights
- Yahoo Answers on DRM Cracking
- FairUse4M.exe and Mirakagi.exe from Rapidshare
- Strix.org.uk – The BBC iPlayer - A technical ‘under the bonnet’ view
- My Digital Life – An article on DRM removal
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