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Anti-DRM Activists Take On the BBC

yro.slashdot.org — "Activists from Binary Freedom Boston have launched a campaign calling on the BBC to release their content online without DRM or proprietary formats. You might remember the BBC asking us about this earlier and even though the public chose not to use DRM by a landslide, they still decided to use it. EMI and Amazon have already ditched DRM.

Who dugg this?

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23 Comments

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  • HalFTW, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3We pay for it with our TV licence.
  • fkr3, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I'm a world citizen and the only thing that bugs me is I had to abandon my DVD collection. I use Windows though, like 95% of desktop users, so it doesn't phase me if the BBC uses an MS format.

    I can remember back as recently as the other day, having to use software like Real Player to play a proprietry format and that didn't bug me either. The only format I hate is Quicktime because it won't full-screen unless I pay for a feature that is standard in every other media player, free or not, and I only use it if a webpage is embedding it.

    I know you're never going to believe this but Microsoft is a solution for a lot of problems. The BBC isn't "supporting" Microsoft by using it, they're "leveraging" Microsoft software. A common practice successfully employed by many corporations and businesses around the world.

    Most companies "leverage" software, whether open or proprietry, and they do it entirely for themselves not to "support" the vendor.
  • HalFTW, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Direct link to their letter to the BBC: http://www.freethebbc.info/node/5
  • rek2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2hmm why is this not made popular by now? I seen stories with 50 votes get popular... weird..
    does anyone knows how digg works?
  • rek2, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Hey thanks, I am a world citizen, I travel a lot and I have live in Spain among other places... personally I think globally and I think I speak for our group also, to desire digital freedom is to desire it everywhere.
    :-) if we can get the BBC to do this, then others will come and we can use the BBC as an example...
    Thanks again for your words. this particular project is been handle by Ringo Kamens he is the one doing most of the work.
  • rek2, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I agree with RingoKamens about Al jazeera.. the english version always shows me the news I can't find here or the other side of the story, this helps me make up my own mind about things.. very good. like for example the G8 protests.

  • schestowitz, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4Good stuff, rek2. Thanks for helping the Brits, even though you're located in Boston. BBC has been in Microsoft's pockets since they made a large deal last year. Examples:

    Beeb slammed for 'fawning' to Bill Gates
    http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37411

    http://slated.org/bbc_microsoft_bias

    Save the BBC from Windows DRM!
    http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000183

    BBC plans to lock viewers into Microsoft monopoly says Open Source Consortium
    http://www.publictechnology.net/article_avantgo.php?sid=7655

    Brits! Act now to save the BBC from Microsoft
    http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/31/brits_act_now_to_sav.html

    Beeb breaks out with Windows WMA protection
    http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35282

    They continue to advertise Microsoft products (e.g. Silverlight, Photosynth, Vista) and it's us taxpayers who pay for this. Outrageous!
  • ninewest, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0why now CNN, lol

    http://www.nine-west-shoes.net/
  • underposter34, on 12/18/2007, -0/+0http://while84.blog.com
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  • Azimuth1, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1"If people are unable to take content they've purchased..."

    Nobody's purchasing anything, it's going to be free.

    Also I'm not sure why people elsewhere are complaining so much about this, it's going to be Britain only.
  • einfeldt, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4Okay, I dugg this story because it's a good idea, but an even better idea is to tell the BBC to shove it, and go get your news elsewhere. Like the International Herald Tribune. Ain't no stinkin' DRM there, boyeeee:

    http://iht.com/
  • mushroom, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11.Submitted: 2 days ago
    2.People like my self buried it as lame
  • ringokamens, on 10/11/2007, -7/+5Personally, I think Al Jazeera is better. They have less bias and provide the hard-hitting news I'm looking for. See english.aljazeera.net
  • schestowitz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1I have lost track of the changes they made to the algorithm. It is bizarre indeed. The story deserves a place in the front page and nobody gamed the system.
  • Azimuth1, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Yes, I'm sure Al Jazeera is completely unbiased when it comes to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

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