What price iPlayer DRM?
Content distributed via the BBC iPlayer is generally protected with DRM. Well, it’s actually not, it’s largely “protected” by the fact that Adobe hasn’t released the specifications for RTMP yet. There’s DRM protecting the MPEG4 content that you download to your computer with the iPlayer AIR application, though.
Why does iPlayer need DRM? To protect our (the license-fee payer’s) investment, of course! Oh, and because content producers demand it.
I understand, though personally disagree with, the argument that DRM on iPlayer downloads is preventing a flood of piracy and is therefore necessary: the fact is, the piracy exists at the moment, and those distributing BBC content illicitly already have pretty well-honed setups for doing so. It might make it technically a little easier (and potentially easier to spot), but it’s not that difficult in the first place.
DVB-T, the standard which governs FreeView, specifies that broadcasts are MPEG Transport Streams, containing MPEG4 video and audio. For not a huge outlay (£50 or so), you can get a PCI card for a PC, or USB receiver or a standalone PVR that can capture these streams; most will make it a little easier for you and remux the transport streams into the sort of MP4 files we’re used to rather than just performing a raw capture. This isn’t anything particularly illicit—it’s just the DVB equivalent of a VHS recorder, and it’s all open standards; the sort which made the TV industry possible in the first place.
This leads to the question: why bother with DRM on simulcast streams? There’s no DRM (because it’d be nonsensical) on the MPEG Transport Streams being sent over the air to anybody who wants them in the UK, and capturing a DVB-T stream isn’t any more difficult (in fact, arguably more reliable) than capturing an live stream transported on RTSP.
In essence, we have a situation where in order to view simulcast streams, despite there being no clear business-case whatsoever, consumers are restricted to proprietary software using non-standard protocols and the whims of Adobe. Doing this doesn’t “protect” anything, it simply hinders innovation and ties consumers (and the BBC) to proprietary products.
(Aside: It’s worth noting that DRM on iPlayer downloads won’t have done anything with respect to piracy; it will have neither increased nor decreased it. If the BBC actually wants to reduce piracy, it would do well to remove the DRM on its downloads. Although this may seem counterintuitive, it’s the principle of supply and demand: if nobody in the UK has any demand for BBC content in standard formats from illicit sources any more, it massively reduces the impetus for pirates to go to the trouble of distributing it. It wouldn’t stamp it out altogether, but it would be a great big demotivator).
