New Website

[Christopher Woods]

>> I have already said I am prepared to use another logo and use another
>> URL if the community truly believes that will make a difference.
> I repeat what I said before, that the community should have been asked
> before the event, and I have no evidence that you did so.

The logo is, as the Yanks say, "confusingly similar" -- it incorporates
the stylised "i>" play icon device and uses an identical shade of pink
plus echoes the instantly recognisable BBC blocks, right down to spacing.
It's dangerously close to attracting the wrong kind of attention.


>> The project is not at risk through any action of mine, it is at risk
>> through its very nature. I am simply mirroring content that is widely
>> available. Even the logo.
> I for one think that there is enough evidence from posts to this list
> that a number of people think that the project may be at risk through
> actions of yours.

I believe a few people have tried that defence when being sued for sharing
MP3s which were already widely available elsewhere, it didn't go down so
well in court. Even if you didn't originate the logo, it's still arguably
infringing and worthy of a C&D -- and with a .co.uk domain, you are an
easy target.


> Jonathan H. wrote:
> Well, was it spam? I've not heard of Beebify before; when I clicked
> the link I saw a very easy one-click method of downloading a working
> wmv copy of a BBC programme.
>
> Spam is "disruptive unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages
> simultaneously to a number of e-mail addresses".
>
> For me, this was a useful message posted to an appropriate list in
> which there had been recent discussions about difficulties downloading
> certain programmes.
>
> AFAIAC, any extra method that works is welcome.
>
> I think we may have different definitions of spam :)

Sent from a no-reply address: spam
Sent without opt in (at least for me): spam
Commercial advertising on a private mailing list, hijacking its subscriber
list: spam

It's unwelcome and unwanted. The important distinction here also is that
Beebify is willingly and intentionally providing a method for accessing
georestricted, DRMed content to those who do not have rights to do so.

I've use GIP for many years and love it. It continues to exist in part
because of the community support and the BBC's tacit acknowledgment that
it is for the licence payer community.


Beebify is a different kind of beast and it is prudent for the GIP guides
and the GIP project to continue to distance themselves from it. Critically
Beebify actively seeks to profit from other people's IP (massive no-no)
through its own subscription model:

> As a kindness to infrequent BBC-TV viewers, acquiring one PlayRights
per day is free.  Or subscribe for unlimited use.

Oh, and this:

> Watching TV used to be a shared social experience, and our hope is
> that Beebify with its simple downloading will encourage viewers to
> form groups where files downloaded by one person are then shared
> locally - thus considerably reducing bandwidth for the BBC servers and
> for viewers' own Internet pathway.

Where to start, really... Perhaps he's already invited the crack team of
IP lawyers round for preemptive tea, biscuits and a group viewing of the
White Queen to appease them prior to lawsuits?


>From an earlier message to this list in March:
> Pair Beebify with Hola.org's (still in beta) free unBlocker for
> Windows, the promising new peer2peer network facilitating BBC access,
> and this is a very simple solution to downloading and watching BBC
> shows from anywhere in the world.

P2P proxy mechanism for circumventing georestrictions on accessing and
searching available content: check

> The server side of Beebify's architecture was designed on the pemise
> that it must access the BBC servers in the same manner as any other
> user, giving the BBC the option of blocking every one of its users
> including Beebify - or blocking no one.

Infringing the GPL: check
(https://github.com/dinkypumpkin/get_iplayer/blob/master/LICENSE.txt)

> The website (client) side of Beebify respects the shortcomings of
> BBC's DRM system by allowing the easily downloaded files to be played
> in Windows Media Player from anywhere in the world - by utilising
> Hola.org's unBlocker, another proxy or a VPN solution.  Important in
> the design was making Beebify simple enough for a computer novice to
> use.

Further circumvention of DRM, contravening iPlayer terms of service: check


Beebify's developer might as well stand outside NBH with a massive "I
allow the world to infringe the BBC's intellectual property rights,
WHATCHAGONNADOABOUTIT?" poster.