Request for BBC Contact - OT

[Jim web]

The BBC's basic problem is that they need to buy in material to broadcast
it. The IPR owners duly apply pressure on the BBC to prevent the material
'leaking' (as they see it) as they want to maintain control over where and
when and how people can access so as to maximise their profits.

Thus the BBC either have to:

A)  pay far more for the material. Thus either reducing the amount of new
material they can broadcast.

or

B) take what the IPR owners accept as 'reasonable steps' to limit access in
term of the obsessions of the IPR owners.

The BBC are therefore externally constraigned in what they are allowed to
do. Particularly given the cuts to their budgets imposed by the UK
Government, and of course the approaching review of the charter supervised
by someone with a track record of not exactly being a sympathiser of the
BBC.

Personally, I am hoping that one result of us being in (and staying in!)
the EU will eventually fix this. As part of the aim for the 'free movement'
of goods, people, etc, the idea is that it should become illegal to limit
access on the basis of national or regional boundaries within the EU. i.e.
anyone in the EU could then pay the BBC license fee and get the same access
as those in the UK. Similarly other broadcasters would have to behave in
accord with the same basis. Hence operators like 'Sky', and vendors of
DVDs, etc, would not be allowed to divide their market on a per-country
basis. And IRP vendors would not be allowed to try to dictate to the BBC
where in the EU was allowed to have access. It would become an illegal
restraint on trade.

I believe that many commercial broadcasters, etc, are resisting such a
change. Quell Surprise!  8-]  But I think the BBC would welcome it now.
Given the chance I suspect the BBC would sell a lot of extra licenses. And
the iplayer infrastructure is now much easier to expand than it used to
be.:-)

So aim your understandable ire at the right targets. For the USA the main
target would be the large USA meedja companies and USA government.

The extra license income if the BBC were allowed to sell them abroad would
be quite handy for the BBC and for the UK trade balance.

All IMHO, of course. :-)

Jim

In article
<VI1PR06MB0973F0D4811668F374D13B1CB59F0 at VI1PR06MB0973.eurprd06.prod.outlook.com>,
   <d.lake at surrey.ac.uk> wrote:
> So, quite honestly, the Beeb is missing a serious trick here.  Sweeping
> generalisation here I know, but we found the cost of cable TV, broadband
> and mobile phones in the US to be many-times the price they are in the
> UK and therefore it appears that Americans are willing/able to pay more
> for their content than we are here in the UK.   There is a source of
> revenue waiting to be tapped.

> But the US iPlayer was canned, programmes that I enjoyed on the BBC
> World Service (e.g. Just A Minute, A World of Music, drama, etc) removed
> and massive geo-blocking imposed on BBC radio (and a total block on BBC
> TV).

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