4 ms·

I was excited for this, only to find that it doesn't support Safari on OS X. I truly do not understand why not. It already works on iOS, which presumably uses t

I was excited for this, only to find that it doesn't support Safari on OS X. I truly do not understand why not. It already works on iOS, which presumably uses the same webkit. Safari is the default browser on OS X where flash doesn't come pre-installed; but yay, it works with Chrome on OS X which already has flash baked into it. This is made more irritating by the fact that setting the User Agent to "iPad" on OS X has always yielded a perfectly functional HTML5 player.

IshKebab 11y ago
Because it is still using a plugin. It's just that the plugin only handles decryption and display of video content now, and is called a Content Decryption Module (CDM) rather than "Flash". That plugin must be closed source and must be ported to any platform that uses it by whoever wrote it (I think Adobe have one, and probably Microsoft too). In some ways this is a step back from Flash.
- jzwinck 11y ago
  I wonder why they feel the need to encrypt public television. Is it so spies cannot find out what you're watching?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - johneth 11y ago
    Usually rights reasons. A lot of the stuff they show is owned by other companies (films, sports, etc.). They also commission a lot of stuff from outside production companies who want to be able to commercialise it in other ways afterwards (e.g. sell it on to Netflix afterwards, show on repeat channels, etc.). Other reasons include not owning the rights to things within the show, most notably music.
    - click170 11y ago
      I thought licensing music wasn't an issue with many BBC shows as long as they could be fairly categorized as Documentary. Eg Top Gear got away with using music from many famous films in almost every show, I thought this is how they were allowed to do that. And their "documentary" status is questionable.
  - nicktelford 11y ago
    It's encrypted to prevent other software/hardware from intercepting the signal and recording it. It's DRM.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - de_dave 11y ago
    As was once explained to me by someone with very close ties to iPlayer, it's because these are the requirements that the production companies of the programmes they broadcast insist upon. This extends to their own output due to rights issues, as much of it is licenced out to their commercial arms too.
- BillinghamJ 11y ago
  This is a bit misleading. The "plugin" you mention is not something the user installs - it is usually bundled with the browser or OS. For example, Apple's is called FairPlay. It's automatically embedded in every iOS device, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Mac. It is able to decrypt the content streamed from approved providers. Of course, it is closed source, but that does not make it insecure or dangerous. The vast majority of your Mac is closed source and has an awful lot more privileges than FairPlay.
  - yarrel 11y ago
    A plugin designed to conceal what your computer is doing from you and make it work against you is by definition insecure and dangerous. Encyrypted content is trivial to record and redistribute for reasons that Cory Doctorow spelled out to tech companies a decade ago. That those companies are still pretending otherwise is leading to them perverting the operation of network and systems software.
    - jcranmer 11y ago
      The tech companies know that DRM is pointless. The problem is that they don't get to decide to not use it: it's the content producers who insist on inane maximal DRM, and refuse to let companies license/broadcast the material without it.
- LloydW93 11y ago
  The content the player uses has no DRM, and it doesn't use EME. Not sure why anyone thinks otherwise...
- kozukumi 11y ago
  I have DRM content disabled in Firefox (41; Windows 10) and it plays using the HTML5 player just fine.
  - acqq 11y ago
    I can't verify as I get "BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only." And I'm really not in the UK, that's true. Are there any links that aren't UK only and fully use the new technology?
    - kozukumi 11y ago
      iPlayer is IP-location restricted. You can get around it with a VPN that allows you to pick exit IP location.
TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
They want to use Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (which YouTube now uses too), and I guess OS X Safari doesn't support it yet?

IshKebab 11y ago

Because it is still using a plugin. It's just that the plugin only handles decryption and display of video content now, and is called a Content Decryption Module (CDM) rather than "Flash". That plugin must be closed source and must be ported to any platform that uses it by whoever wrote it (I think Adobe have one, and probably Microsoft too). In some ways this is a step back from Flash.

jzwinck 11y ago
I wonder why they feel the need to encrypt public television. Is it so spies cannot find out what you're watching?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- johneth 11y ago
  Usually rights reasons. A lot of the stuff they show is owned by other companies (films, sports, etc.). They also commission a lot of stuff from outside production companies who want to be able to commercialise it in other ways afterwards (e.g. sell it on to Netflix afterwards, show on repeat channels, etc.). Other reasons include not owning the rights to things within the show, most notably music.
  - click170 11y ago
    I thought licensing music wasn't an issue with many BBC shows as long as they could be fairly categorized as Documentary. Eg Top Gear got away with using music from many famous films in almost every show, I thought this is how they were allowed to do that. And their "documentary" status is questionable.
- nicktelford 11y ago
  It's encrypted to prevent other software/hardware from intercepting the signal and recording it. It's DRM.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- de_dave 11y ago
  As was once explained to me by someone with very close ties to iPlayer, it's because these are the requirements that the production companies of the programmes they broadcast insist upon. This extends to their own output due to rights issues, as much of it is licenced out to their commercial arms too.
BillinghamJ 11y ago
This is a bit misleading. The "plugin" you mention is not something the user installs - it is usually bundled with the browser or OS. For example, Apple's is called FairPlay. It's automatically embedded in every iOS device, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Mac. It is able to decrypt the content streamed from approved providers. Of course, it is closed source, but that does not make it insecure or dangerous. The vast majority of your Mac is closed source and has an awful lot more privileges than FairPlay.
- yarrel 11y ago
  A plugin designed to conceal what your computer is doing from you and make it work against you is by definition insecure and dangerous. Encyrypted content is trivial to record and redistribute for reasons that Cory Doctorow spelled out to tech companies a decade ago. That those companies are still pretending otherwise is leading to them perverting the operation of network and systems software.
  - jcranmer 11y ago
    The tech companies know that DRM is pointless. The problem is that they don't get to decide to not use it: it's the content producers who insist on inane maximal DRM, and refuse to let companies license/broadcast the material without it.
LloydW93 11y ago
The content the player uses has no DRM, and it doesn't use EME. Not sure why anyone thinks otherwise...
kozukumi 11y ago
I have DRM content disabled in Firefox (41; Windows 10) and it plays using the HTML5 player just fine.
- acqq 11y ago
  I can't verify as I get "BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only." And I'm really not in the UK, that's true. Are there any links that aren't UK only and fully use the new technology?
  - kozukumi 11y ago
    iPlayer is IP-location restricted. You can get around it with a VPN that allows you to pick exit IP location.

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

They want to use Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (which YouTube now uses too), and I guess OS X Safari doesn't support it yet?