5 ms·

"We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially

"We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com." sigh

gerdesj 9y ago
As I can't read the article, I'm going to guess: Is it when the Atlantic broke through to create the Med?
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  "Dry Falls (pictured), the site of a former waterfall, is a horseshoe-shaped cliff that’s twice as high and three times as wide as Niagara Falls, making it the largest confirmed waterfall in the planet’s history. Today, the site is preserved as Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, where visitors can see the impact of these relatively recent geologic events through overlooks, canyon trails and interpretative displays." It's in Washington state in the USA. The key point is that it's the largest confirmed waterfall, the creation of the Med might not have created a waterfall and instead been more of a massive surprise river.
pirocks 9y ago
does this help:https://web.archive.org/web/20170609035208/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170601-the-largest-waterfall-that-ever-existed https://web.archive.org/web/20170609035208/http://www.bbc.co...
- have_faith 9y ago
  There's no article content in there, does the BBC website do something on purpose to stop it being archived?
  - nerdponx 9y ago
    There's no text in the HTML itself. It seems like it's all being pulled from a server using JS as the page is loaded. I can't read it in Lynx or Firefox with NoScript.
    - have_faith 9y ago
      That's pretty odd for a static article.
SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
Works for me, from the US. Just using uMatrix and uBlock Origin.
- aptwebapps 9y ago
  You don't need those to access it from the US.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
clort 9y ago
I also get this, is it because they have adverts on the page and the BBC is somehow not allowed to show adverts in the UK? I wonder what actually prevents them just showing the page without adverts to UK readers, rather than showing the placeholder; I'm supposing that its for political reasons as in, they wont show it, rather than cant
- dTal 9y ago
  It's political. Note that BBC Good Food is in exactly the same scenario, legally. Yet it's fully accessible in the UK.
  - detaro 9y ago
    As far as I know, BBC Good Food doesn't belong to the BBC, it just licenses the name.
    - dTal 9y ago
      "This website is made by BBC Worldwide. BBC Worldwide is a commercial company that is owned by the BBC (and just the BBC). No money from the licence fee was used to create this page. The profits we make from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes." https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ C'mon man, it's right there on the front page...
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
jl6 9y ago
Can someone fill in the gap for me here? 1. Website is run on a commercial basis. 2. ??? 3. Therefore it is not accessible from the UK.
- detaro 9y ago
  BBC can't show advertisements or do other commercial things in the UK. For doing that abroad, they have a subsidy that can operate commercially, as long as it doesn't do so in the UK (which runs the international website, with ads on it). Presumably it's also supposed to not compete with the BBC, and the site is thus not offered in the UK?
logicallee 9y ago
Given, >a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC I will translate the paragraph you quoted: "We don't want to show this content to people in the UK." That is literally exactly its meaning. (I didn't investigate if it is true but that is the meaning of the paragraph you quoted, as written.) - EDIT: this got a downvote, so reread my comment more carefully.
- logicallee 9y ago
  since this got downvoted, what forces their hand?
  - DanBC 9y ago
    The BBC charter and the various laws that the BBC have to operate under. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/bbc-commercial-activities https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/catego... > The BBC may carry out commercial activities but only through subsidiary companies. There is a risk that without appropriate safeguards the BBC’s public funding could be used to subsidise or benefit these subsidiaries by offering services on favourable terms. This could distort competition by giving its commercial subsidiaries an unfair competitive advantage.
    - logicallee 9y ago
      Thank you for finding that, that is interesting. You will have to spell out the connection (as they might see it) with a UK audience being able to consume the content their subsidiary companies produce, though, as I can't quite make the connection.
ZeroGravitas 9y ago
For those in the UK, here's an article from Ars Technica, on what I guess is the subject of the BBC article (based on other comments): https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/10/the-scablands-a-scarred-landscape-as-strange-as-fiction/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/10/the-scablands-a-scar...

gerdesj 9y ago

As I can't read the article, I'm going to guess: Is it when the Atlantic broke through to create the Med?

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
"Dry Falls (pictured), the site of a former waterfall, is a horseshoe-shaped cliff that’s twice as high and three times as wide as Niagara Falls, making it the largest confirmed waterfall in the planet’s history. Today, the site is preserved as Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, where visitors can see the impact of these relatively recent geologic events through overlooks, canyon trails and interpretative displays." It's in Washington state in the USA. The key point is that it's the largest confirmed waterfall, the creation of the Med might not have created a waterfall and instead been more of a massive surprise river.

pirocks 9y ago

does this help:https://web.archive.org/web/20170609035208/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170601-the-largest-waterfall-that-ever-existed https://web.archive.org/web/20170609035208/http://www.bbc.co...

have_faith 9y ago
There's no article content in there, does the BBC website do something on purpose to stop it being archived?
- nerdponx 9y ago
  There's no text in the HTML itself. It seems like it's all being pulled from a server using JS as the page is loaded. I can't read it in Lynx or Firefox with NoScript.
  - have_faith 9y ago
    That's pretty odd for a static article.

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago

Works for me, from the US. Just using uMatrix and uBlock Origin.

aptwebapps 9y ago
You don't need those to access it from the US.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

clort 9y ago

I also get this, is it because they have adverts on the page and the BBC is somehow not allowed to show adverts in the UK? I wonder what actually prevents them just showing the page without adverts to UK readers, rather than showing the placeholder; I'm supposing that its for political reasons as in, they wont show it, rather than cant

dTal 9y ago
It's political. Note that BBC Good Food is in exactly the same scenario, legally. Yet it's fully accessible in the UK.
- detaro 9y ago
  As far as I know, BBC Good Food doesn't belong to the BBC, it just licenses the name.
  - dTal 9y ago
    "This website is made by BBC Worldwide. BBC Worldwide is a commercial company that is owned by the BBC (and just the BBC). No money from the licence fee was used to create this page. The profits we make from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes." https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ C'mon man, it's right there on the front page...
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]

jl6 9y ago

Can someone fill in the gap for me here? 1. Website is run on a commercial basis. 2. ??? 3. Therefore it is not accessible from the UK.

detaro 9y ago
BBC can't show advertisements or do other commercial things in the UK. For doing that abroad, they have a subsidy that can operate commercially, as long as it doesn't do so in the UK (which runs the international website, with ads on it). Presumably it's also supposed to not compete with the BBC, and the site is thus not offered in the UK?

logicallee 9y ago

Given, >a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC I will translate the paragraph you quoted: "We don't want to show this content to people in the UK." That is literally exactly its meaning. (I didn't investigate if it is true but that is the meaning of the paragraph you quoted, as written.) - EDIT: this got a downvote, so reread my comment more carefully.

logicallee 9y ago
since this got downvoted, what forces their hand?
- DanBC 9y ago
  The BBC charter and the various laws that the BBC have to operate under. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/bbc-commercial-activities https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/catego... > The BBC may carry out commercial activities but only through subsidiary companies. There is a risk that without appropriate safeguards the BBC’s public funding could be used to subsidise or benefit these subsidiaries by offering services on favourable terms. This could distort competition by giving its commercial subsidiaries an unfair competitive advantage.
  - logicallee 9y ago
    Thank you for finding that, that is interesting. You will have to spell out the connection (as they might see it) with a UK audience being able to consume the content their subsidiary companies produce, though, as I can't quite make the connection.

ZeroGravitas 9y ago

For those in the UK, here's an article from Ars Technica, on what I guess is the subject of the BBC article (based on other comments): https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/10/the-scablands-a-scarred-landscape-as-strange-as-fiction/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/10/the-scablands-a-scar...