The BBC"s upcoming iPlayer service is being targeted by the UK"s Open Source Consortium. The iPlayer in question is a BBC service that will allow viewers to watch any show that they have missed for up to a week after it airs on television. BBC Trust has decided to require DRM on the downloads: the shows will expire after a few days. The BBC chose Microsoft"s DRM to protect the downloads, which means that Mac and Linux users are excluded. This didn"t sit well with the Open Source Consortium, which has just written a letter to the BBC.
"This action from the BBC effectively promotes one operating system vendor at the expense of others. It is very disturbing that the BBC should be using the license payers" money to affect the operating system market in this way. Imagine if the BBC were to launch new digital channels, but only make them available on a certain make of television—there would be uproar," said the group"s CEO, Ian Roberts. The BBC has already expressed its support for the Mac and claims that something will be done as soon as possible (which will probably involve a RealPlayer system).