BBC iPlayer DRM cracks

[Spacecadet]

Right, that's it, I'm phoning the police.

Sorry, was that your joke?

[scotspine]

It's not stealing, it's copyright infringement

and your point is...?

[Spacecadet]

and your point is...?

Ones a terrible crime and rightly punished with huge fines and threats of prison terms.
The other is taking without permission

[scotspine]

zzzzzzzzzz keep taking the tablets...

[thunderlizard]

One of these little beauties will get you a hard copy straight off the original TV broadcast.

[NickFitz]

Although I don't agree with wholesale theft of material that denies the artist remuneration, I don't think it's too bad if a TV license owner wants to take material they are entitled to view and convert it into a form in which it is more convenient for them to view it, even if that means putting off viewing it for more than the month allowed by iPlayer, or transferring it to a device not yet supported by the BBC's technologies.

The real problem with such material is the number of rights owners involved, and the fact that there is no system in place to cope with the possibilities now available to us. I know that my father would be quite happy if his radio plays for the BBC in the 1950s were to become available again (assuming the Beeb still have copies) as long as he received the appropriate remuneration as the owner of the copyright; the same for his TV plays.

However, there is nothing like the Public Lending Right Scheme (under which he still receives a small cheque every year for the borrowing of his books from public libraries) to compensate the creators of such work, and the BBC or the commercial broadcasters are hardly in a position to institute such an organisation to deal with the huge number of entitled contributors to all that has ever been broadcast.

However, the Public Lending Right Scheme shows that it can be done. Consider: the scheme was set up when there was hardly the technology to support such an endeavour, yet it was built, and it works. It would be so much easier, with modern technology, to establish such a scheme for broadcast material. The real problem is one of political will: such a scheme requires central direction and control, and governments in thrall to economic "theories" (which scarcely qualify as hypotheses) focused on decentralisation (and which have been proven wrong to do so) are unwilling to take such an obvious step.

[d000hg]

Although I don't agree with wholesale theft of material that denies the artist remuneration, I don't think it's too bad if a TV license owner wants to take material they are entitled to view and convert it into a form in which it is more convenient for them to view it, even if that means putting off viewing it for more than the month allowed by iPlayer, or transferring it to a device not yet supported by the BBC's technologies.

The BBC doesn't only view its own productions, but lots of sport and American shows they pay £millions for.

I agree it's hardly murder to take a personal copy from iPlayer though, it's the same as videoing on your VHS.

[scotspine]

ah right, of course. i was forgetting. it's hardly theft if it suits your own purposes and you can justify it, is it?

[scotspine]

i wish you guys would realise that if i'm reading threads like this just now; left alone, by xmas, i'll likely be reading all about dp's "Crackz, Serialz, Warez, get your lovely Hackz....." and by n/year, there's no board!

[Spacecadet]

i wish you guys would realise that if i'm reading threads like this just now; left alone, by xmas, i'll likely be reading all about dp's "Crackz, Serialz, Warez, get your lovely Hackz....." and by n/year, there's no board!

As a mod, you could always lock the thread