Ofcom blocks BBC’s DRM plans for Freeview HD

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Communications watchdog Ofcom has cast doubt on the BBC's plans to introduce anti-piracy measures to the forthcoming Freeview HD service.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will start broadcasting free HD programming nationwide for the first time when Freeview HD is switched on next month and the BBC had proposed introducing data encryption to prevent material being copied illegally.

However, that now looks unlikely – at least for now – after Ofcom raised serious reservations over the benefit of any such system in a letter to the BBC after a period of public consultation.

The regulator said it had received widespread response on the issue from both customers and consumer groups, and made it clear it wasn't prepared to give the green light until the BBC had addressed three specific concerns.

These were the anticipated benefit to citizens and consumers, the impact the system would have on the receiver hardware market and that there is no other less disruptive alternative.

At present, content management is an optional part of the Freeview HD standard and is left up to the receiver manufacturers. The BBC proposes to encode the programme information stream and provide tables to decrypt it only to manufacturers that agree to implement the system. With the BBC channel an integral part of Freeview HD, that would effectively make it compulsory.

Ofcom's comments are in contrast to its initial view, expressed in a letter [PDF] to stakeholders requesting feedback in September, that it had little objection to the idea in principle.

But with the likes of Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock slamming the proposal as an attempt to “enact a form of encryption through the backdoor”, things have clearly changed.

In a letter to Ofcom, Killock wrote that “such action would permit the BBC to dictate who may provide equipment which accesses the channels it broadcasts – a clear violation of the free-to-air principle and an improper interference in the market by the BBC”.

While Ofcom has made it clear it hasn't rejecting the proposal out of hand, it's clear that, for now anyway, Freeview HD will arrive without any content management encryption.

One glimmer of hope for the BBC comes from the nature of Freeview HD itself. With none of the current crop of Freeview tuners in TVs or set-top boxes capable of receiving the DVB-T2 signal, it can argue that the impact of the receiver hardware market is negligible, as customers have to invest in new hardware either way to receive the HD signal.

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