Open Source Video Player marches on

Miro, the open source video player and subscription tool continues its growth in popularity (with over 3,400 channels available, including increasing numbers in HD quality) and is beginning to be adopted by national TV broadcasters in Germany (Deutshe Welle) and Norway, for example. This is in stark contrast to the UK, where the BBC have instead opted for their own proprietary system built in association with Microsoft, the iPlayer. Many have argued that such a decision from a state owned public service is a real pity, if not questionable, given the potential of open source solutions such as Miro. However, the BBC has decided that DRM (Digital Rights Management) is a key issue for them and they are closely protecting their content through this approach. In Ireland, no download service up and running yet from our national broadcaster, just access to some streamed video samples of news, etc.