Stephen Fry on the iPlayer and the digital arms race

[almostwitty]

By any stretch of the imagination, Stephen Fry is one of the very few people who totally understands and gets the digital revolution (tm), and also has the eyes and ears of most of the population. More importantly, people like him and he is inherently likeable.

So it's interesting that in a recent speech on the future of the BBC, he apparently declared that:
- the BBC should not be ghettoized
- he regularly breaks the digital lock on the BBC's iPlayer
- the very existence of the iPlayer is making a lot of enemies for the BBC

It would be very interesting to find out whether he thinks the iPlayer lock should be beefed up (thus perpetuating the digital arms race), or whether he (as a rights provider of some considerable length) would be prepared to let his content loose online. Or whether it should be shut down entirely.

Comments

[theta-g.livejournal.com]

Sorry to put it so simply, but Old Media still pretends that the structures they put in place matter. Only the content matters. Rushing into the Internet party with freebies for everyone only sounds terrifying if you think that the BBC charter or the ITV business model exist. Every day I pass people in the hall who think they work for a newspaper when there is no such thing.

*Should* Old Media attend the New Media party and play by the rules of the new house? There is no alternative and it's simply a matter of how many stupid "initiatives" and self-delusion it'll take before they give in, go with the flow and get rich the new way.

[red-silk-robe.livejournal.com]

I recently subscribed to his Podgrams via iTunes.

Fry is probably one of the most intelligent, erudite, and still ENTERTAINING figures of our time. I adore him to bits. I'll enjoy seeing where the iPlayer fracas goes.