Project Kangaroo could pool TV content from major UK broadcasters
By Darren Murph 
posted Jun 15th 2007 4:51PM
posted Jun 15th 2007 4:51PM
While details on this one don't seem to be completely fleshed out just yet, whispers are that the BBC could be working with ITV, Channel 4, and potentially other players in the future to bring about a "download service that would pool TV content" from the major UK broadcasters. Currently, there's a swarm of on-demand offerings from just about every major broadcaster (4OD, for instance), and this collaborative effort would essentially do for VOD what a prior agreement did for digital TV in Britain. Reportedly, the download service would be built around a P2P infrastructure of some sort (at least initially), but it was noted that it could expand into a "digital TV service" in the future. No word just yet on when Project Kangaroo would get to hoppin', but it'll be interesting to see what all this harmony does for the competition.[Via El Reg]
Does the individual in charge of the project hold the title of "Captain?"
No, more likely it's "Skippy the Bush"
This sounds like it could be really good, though being from The Register I'm taking it with my daily 6 grams of salt. If it is real, hopefully it'll be more Apple friendly than 4OD, from which us Mac users/losers are sadly excluded.
It's just a shame that a great deal of the best programming in the UK is from the US on import. Would be worth it though for the the few diamonds in the rough like QI and Peep Show. I can see the licence fee coming good once more...
40d doesnt work with vista yet either hopefully they sort it out
Being 'something' of a .Net developer (i.e. nothing to do with WMP or any DRM malarkey) as I understand it porting 4OD to Vista should be relatively simple. By relatively simple I do not wish to imply that it would be easy, but that updating all the necessary object libraries (once available) and so forth would inevitably lead to 4OD working on Vista.
OS X however is an entirely different proposition. By not having an equivalent of the Janus DRM system the OS does not offer the inbuilt capabilites for content lockdown as does Windows. Even if 4OD was written in Java (which I can't imagine that it is, though I've never looked), it would still present a massive challenge to create an entire system of cross platform DRM.
Having made the mistake of posting on Endgt on a Mac/Win issue before, if anything is incorrect please don't tear me a new one, but explain why. (you know what the fanboys are like). I've knocked back some cocodamol for a banging migraine, so this may very well be all lies.
Why don't they just give Joost broadcasting rights? More importantly, why aren't the owners and operators of Joost lobbying these companies for their content?
Engadget are slipping up...its a UK story but they have forgotten to put in their usual CCTV state surveillance troll! What has happened?!!?!?!!?!?!
So... my Freeview box records Top Gear but my neighbour down the street forgot to. His Freeview box dials up the closest available host(s) of the missing content (me, and possibly others) and his box snags a copy?
Now that's my 'TV License' money at work, baby! Yeah!