digg

Facebook Connect Join Digg About
See the original image at guardian.co.uk

The BBC urged to become UK's "open-source media platform"

guardian.co.uk — The director general Mark Thompson has directed the corporation to think beyond proprietary rights management to a new era of interoperability that offers consumers wider choice, control and benefits from "network effects" - the virality and interconnectedness of the web.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 7, 2008

Digg DudeWhat is Digg?

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg surfaces the best stuff as submitted and voted on by the community. Take the Tour to learn more.

81 Comments

show profanity settings
expand all
  • StevenBullen, on 10/07/2008, -3/+51BBC is one of the best companies in the world. I will probably get ***** for that comment.
  • StevenBullen, on 10/07/2008, -0/+20I quite like listening to BBC Radio 1 on the way home without ANY adverts.

    Or checking out the BBC website which is paid for by UK citizens (I think) via TV license.

    Or is it the great BBC shows that we have.... Little Britian, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, The Office, etc.

    BBC is worth every penny.
  • ChrisWalkr, on 10/07/2008, -2/+16For the Money the BBC offers a great service. All that Commercial Free TV, Commercial Free Radio, Commercial Free News.

    Just look at how bad the show are on ITV. Can you imagine if the BBC was just another form of that?
    We'd all be stuck watching US shows _all_ the time.
  • baldgye, on 10/07/2008, -0/+14tbf Little Britian stopped being funny after S1 tho...but then it has things like;
    Top Gear
    Never Mind The Buzzcocks
    Have I Got News For You
    Room 101
    The Office
    All without ad's
    BBC for the most part makes Channel 4 and ITV look like *****
  • tomjowitt, on 10/07/2008, -2/+12It's not a fair system, but can you imagine what the quality of UK media would be like without the BBC? Sure, primetime BBC is utter dross but they do so many excellent things in other areas.

    I think running the BBC off advertising revenue like the other UK networks would be a really bad move. We don't need another ITV/Sky.
  • boneit, on 10/07/2008, -3/+12The BBC already runs Linux, and has been for years. So they obviously understand FOSS and the mindset. Their problem for locking content is that they don't own the rights to everything they show. Some they do own are sold to other markets, so they also have to be locked down. Not that anything justifies their crazy DVD/blu-ray pricing in the US market. That's just simple greed.
  • mcrules, on 10/07/2008, -0/+9No, to watch live broadcast OF ANY TV CHANNEL in the UK, you need a licence, whether cable, satellite or aerial. If its being broadcast, you fess up. You are right, you don't need to watch TV though. It funds the BBC.
  • Ynot82, on 10/07/2008, -5/+13Unfortunately, they are infested with Ex-Microsoft people who want nothing to do with open source
    let alone allow the BBC to become the UK's open source "platform"

    http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/BBCcorrupted
  • Ragzouken, on 10/07/2008, -0/+8Hasn't privatisation ruined enough things?
  • ShootTheCore, on 10/07/2008, -0/+8BBC isn't a company, it's a publicly funded organization.
  • ChrisWalkr, on 10/07/2008, -0/+6Mock The Week is worth the license fee alone.
  • mellomeh, on 10/07/2008, -0/+6You don't need a license to simply own a TV, only if you're using it to receive broadcasts.
  • StevenBullen, on 10/07/2008, -1/+7Your not forced to pay it. You just cant watch TV.... ha ha
  • gilbot53, on 10/07/2008, -3/+9Fairness doesn't come into it. The BBC is part of the very fabric of the British culture. It is as British as the Proms, a nice cup of tea, green rolling hills, rain, tacky seaside resorts, the NHS, fish and chips, cricket, Marks and Spencer, policemen with pointy hats, the National Trust......and on and on, and on.
    Obviously there is a utilitarian philosophy behind continued levy of the licence fee and for that we should be thankful. Commercialism has run rampant in all other British broadcast media and, as advertising-supported media inevitably does, it seeks the lowest common denominator. The BBC tries to raise the bar rather than lower it; just compare ClassicFM and BBC3.
    Sorry but sometimes, and for the greater good of all, a few must make some sacrifices and you are it.
  • theodenking, on 10/07/2008, -0/+5When you think about it it's only the BBC and Channel 4, the two public broadcasters, which invest in original content at all in our country. Admittedly ITV will occasionally pay for yet another formulaic "drama" (read: morbid crime story for bored middle-class people) but ever other broadcaster: Five, Sky, UKTV, they get their money showing repeats of American and beeb programming.
  • mickstephenson, on 10/07/2008, -0/+5The BBC DVD pricing in the US helps toward programming, that's it. The BBC is a not for profit organisation so the accumulation of money for the BBC is pointless it has to be spent.
  • craighoxton, on 10/07/2008, -0/+5The snailcasting era is finished - we can now pick and choose what we watch thanks to online video sharing and, er, torrents.
  • Tyorant, on 10/07/2008, -1/+5Considering I live in the UK and pay it. Yes.
  • Steinr, on 10/07/2008, -2/+6Since this is turning into a debate over license fees I will add my two cents... In my opinion just Radio 1 alone, their prime radio service, is worth the fee. Best radio in the world and thanks for no adverts!
  • warriorscot, on 10/07/2008, -0/+4I would and I think most other people would as well.
  • PJBovoNox, on 10/07/2008, -1/+5Don't be a *****. I have to pay taxes for our education system but I don't have kids. What is your point?
  • Angostura, on 10/07/2008, -1/+5Only blind people who have a TV, actually.
  • Stemp, on 10/07/2008, -0/+3The famous Boston TV Party ?
  • hiPpymIck, on 10/07/2008, -0/+3..shes the writer
  • KyotoWolf, on 10/07/2008, -2/+5I'd gladly pay for it just for a few of their shows

    Top Gear, Panorama, Dr Who, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, numerous documentaries and miniseries' etc.

    Not to mention their other shows, website and radio.
  • Angostura, on 10/07/2008, -0/+3No No No Radio 4 is their prime radio service and worth the fee alone.
  • craighoxton, on 10/07/2008, -1/+4That's Jemima Kiss, the Guardian's pre-op technology journalist
  • Myonosken, on 10/07/2008, -0/+3Wow yeah privatisation. Thats a BRILLIANT idea....
  • Ragzouken, on 10/07/2008, -0/+2I totally agree. The quality of service is well worth the license fee.
  • Stavrosian, on 10/07/2008, -0/+2Protip: don't bother paying your license fee, there's nothing they can realistically do about it. Enforcement officers can show up at your door and demand you let them in, to which you can respond with hearty laughter and a friendly "***** off."
  • Tyorant, on 10/07/2008, -9/+11No one is forcing you to watch their news shows, ffs.
  • SpeedingSkills, on 10/12/2008, -0/+2Yep! Greed at work!
  • pigfister, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1you must remember to pay for your indoctrination, even brain washing isn't free!
  • latin69, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1Or BBC will hunt you down with dogs and helicopters!
  • mickstephenson, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1A license fee which you didn't pay...
    I am not saying those prices aren't ridiculous btw I am saying that the motivation for the high prices can't be greed because there are no shareholders to benefit from the added income.
    Anyway as far as UK prices go, you are getting the boxsets cheaper than us
    http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=allprod ... = $66
    Also note how the prices for US shows are hiked up over here, compared to what you pay over there.
    http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=allprod ... =$43
    Basically, stop complaining you still get everything on the cheap, and US shows still take advantage of our country as a place where you can charge extra and rip of the locals.
    Note, I am incredibly aware that Heroes is still much cheaper than Torchwood, and I am at a loss to justify that.
  • pigfister, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1you are incorrect, as you can watch news 24 live on a mobile phone and a pc/pda ect and yes you have to pay for a licence.
  • inactive, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1Apart from the fine you will receive and have to pay.
  • stotty, on 10/07/2008, -3/+4I'm not sure why lepster is getting dugg down. Here in the UK, in order to receive any kind of public broadcast we have to pay the Television Licence Fee of around £139 ($226) to the BBC yearly, regardless of whether we receive the BBC's services or not. We then have to pay extra to other service providers if we wish to receive satellite, cable, etc.

    "In the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies, a television licence is required to receive any publicly broadcast television service, from any source. This includes the commercial channels, cable and satellite transmissions. The money from the licence fee is used to provide radio, television and Internet content for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Welsh-language television programmes for S4C." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_ ...
  • motters, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1I agree that the broadcast era is "finished". A couple of decades from now I doubt that TV (digital or otherwise) will still be a significant part of the media mix. It won't disappear entirely, but like radio it will gradually become less and less important as a medium whereby people get their news, information and entertainment.
  • aos101, on 10/07/2008, -1/+2They are lying to you then about the iPlayer. It even says on the BBC website that you don't need a TV licence for the current iPlayer:

    http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about_i ...

    You only need a licence if you watch live TV, and currently the iPlayer doesn't allow you to do that.
  • zcreem, on 10/07/2008, -1/+2I would happily pay the licence fee to be able to get the BBC over here, via torrent if necessary.
    The Beeb is excellent value for money and far better than the crap put out by German TV which is dearer and yes you have to pay a license here too. And BTW German TV is full of Ads on the state channels in the day.
  • warriorscot, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1^ No only if they come back with a warrant which they don't always do and you can always tape up all your antena sockets for a while to show you aren't using a TV to recieve broadcasts. Or if you phone them up and tell them you don't have a television then as often as not just leave you alone.
  • Myonosken, on 10/07/2008, -1/+2Uh no, iPlayer clearly states you DON'T need a license. Are you ***** stupid?
  • pezholio, on 10/08/2008, -0/+1Really? I'd rather stick needles in my ears than listen to Radio 1 in the daytime. Mary Anne Hobbs (and ocassionally Fabio and Grooverider) is the only thing worth listening to on that station. 6 Music on the other hand...
  • TheSnuffster, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1I'm partial to a bit of Radio 2 myself...
  • boneit, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1So you are saying the prices should be even cheaper than local market shows then.

    Try comparing the prices to a regular US TV show season. In general, the US season will be around 24 episodes when there's no silly writers' strike, whereas UK seasons that aren't soap operas tend to be 6 to 13.

    Here are some examples from Amazon from what I believe are the latest of each:

    Heroes season 2: $24.99 (list price: $39.98)
    Doctor Who season 4: $64.99 (list price. $99.98)
    Supernatural Season 3: $38.99 (list price: $59.98)
    Torchwood season 2 : $51.99 (list price: $79.98)

    Guess which two have already been paid for by the UK TV tax license?
  • aos101, on 10/08/2008, -0/+1@pigfister OK I see you can now watch the BBC News channel (and a few others) on the iPlayer, but that didn't use to be the case. The BBC need to update their FAQ then as it still says you can't watch live TV on the iPlayer. As long as you don't watch the live channels on the iPlayer though, you can use the iPlayer without a TV licence. They were still lying to him, as you only need a TV licence to watch live channels on the iPlayer (and they suggested you need a licence to use anything on the iPlayer).
  • JazLive, on 10/09/2008, -0/+1I live in the USA and prefer BBC news ~ mainly because of practically NO advertising commercials and every casting is FRESH not a soap opera soga to to be continued in the next news cast.
  • MrARPA, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1IIRC OnDigital boxes used to all have slots for subscriber cards, but when the BBC got involved with Freeview the new boxes didn't have card slots. I've always had a suspicion that the BBC knew that by including subscriber card capability (as standard) it would open itself up to a possible subscription model, so deliberately left the Freeview boxes cardless. Maybe I'm being paranoid but it wouldn't surprise me.
  • warriorscot, on 10/07/2008, -0/+1You don't just pay for the BBC it pays for the countries broadcast hardware and an independent news service and public information outlet which the government would have to pay for anyway so you would still have to pay at least with the licence fee only people with televisions pay for it. Some of the other channels and a few other organisations also get a piece of the licence fee cash.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 81 of 81 discussions

  • Add a Comment

    Login or register to comment!
    Or, sign-in super fast with your Facebook account ...


© Digg Inc. 2009 — Content created and posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain | Terms of Use Updated | Privacy Policy
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.