The BBC has hooked up with peer-to-peer video site Zudeo to provide torrents of some of its most popular shows. According to the story on the BBC's own site
The move follows a deal between the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide, and technology firm Azureus.
The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as Little Britain.
Brilliant, you might think. But look a bit closer and things don't look quite so good to me. All the programming is going to be paid-for (although no pricing strategy has been agreed) and wrapped in DRM. Yeuch. But I suppose this is BBC Worldwide, the international - and commercial - arm of the corporation.
My question is "what about us in the UK?". As far as I can ascertain, none of this applies to UK consumers. We're still waiting the long-trailed interactive media player - which will let home viewers download and watch BBC programming over the net. Years after work first started, it's still not out for general consumption. Instead we have to watch as the Beeb makes deals with outside interests while we twiddle our thumbs waiting for the Real Deal.
Isn't it madness when British viewers are the last to be able to get hold of BBC content?
