The Virtual DVR Emerges?

At ETech on Tuesday 27th March, the BBC's Tom Loosemore talked a bit about BBC trials using various "Virtual" TV media servers (more about this on GigaOm NewTeeVee) and about his vision of the DVR as a P2P WebService

Tom is quoted as saying:

..the BBC is merely trying to explore ideas for the long term future of the medium. Trying to find out “how to cede control more gracefully,” as he likes to put it. “We don’t want to get caught blindsided.”

From the point of view of the Web TV endgame, this is a very interesting development. It is hugely inefficient to have a plethora of various stand alone devices (STBs etc) in the home providing access to various bits of content when a PC (or somesuch) with a few bits added can do it all linked to a web based service.

We have wondered why a DVR Webservice - a "Virtual TiVo" - has not yet been tried. Not a VoD service, but one where you simply have all your personal DVR functions but as a Web Service. There are a few issues around bandwidth but these are not particularly intractable.

No, turns out that its all about the legal issues around rights, copying and safe harbours, i.e its ok under (most) Safe Harbour caselaw to be a conduit to help people copy stuff onto their disks at home (and even to sell the gear to do so), but its not ok to sell you that same functionality as a web service.

Do this and the rightsholder will then be able to come after the service with big lawsuits.

It also remains to be seen if Safe Harbour law will be changed when huge volume players (eg YouTube) find that stuff is being re-posted as fast as they take it down.

However, what happens if the rightsholder IS the video webservice? Most would balk at the idea at present, as they are still structurally (and culturally?) designed to pursue more traditional models. This may change in future of course, but (if history is any guide) these companies will need to be brought to their knees first before they will be motivated to restructure so radically.

However, one of the few enterprises on the planet that is structured in such a way as to be able to run a TV Webservice in this way is the BBC. As a licence fee payer I for one would be delighted to have part of that fee fund my virtual DVR! I want their content when its convenient for me, the medium used is far less relevant - and I don't want Yet Another Set Top Box.

Imagine what would happen if an organisation of the BBC's scale did put up such a system? The mere act of trialling it brings it into being, and the implications are enormous.

Interesting (TV) Times......