BBC looking to offer its archives over P2P

[Marius]

Originally posted by naz
Yeah, they announced they were opening up their entire archives for free online consumption a few months ago.

I just looked up the source of this information - a speech given by Greg Dyke, the BBC's Director General at the Edinburgh International TV Festival back in August.

What he actually said was this:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds11598.html

"We intend to allow parts of our programmes, where we own the rights, to be available to anyone in the UK to download so long as they don't use them for commercial purposes."

"Parts" of programmes - in other words, clips - trailers to whet the appetite. If you want the full program you'll be directed to the BBC's online video and DVD store.

Although the BBC is presently funded by the British taxpayer this arrangment will be reviewed in a few years time and the government's made it clear that there's no guarantee the funding will continue beyond that date.

That's why they won't be giving away their most important financial asset.

Marius