OT: No online Olympics video for YOU

johnmeyer wrote on 8/9/2008, 6:56 PM
My worst fears about content management and DRM appear to have been realized. After two hours working with five computers, and getting help from my 16 and 21 year-old "children," I have been unable to watch even one second of NBC's online video of the Olympics. The culprit is unclear, but in reading various blog posts from the past 24 hours, it appears that NBC (the TV network that has U.S.A. TV carriage rights) has so many restrictions on what can be watched, by whom, when, and where (it depends on what cable company provides your signal, for instance -- even though this is online and the cable company is not) that the whole thing doesn't work.

I've never had a problem watching any video from any site.

So, I'll bet they have some nifty video of sports I'd like to see, and I'll bet that they have all sorts of advertisers hoping I will watch, but I won't be attending this party.

They've been hoisted on their own petard.

Phooey.

Comments

GlennChan wrote on 8/9/2008, 8:31 PM
The whole rights management thing is going to be an issue because a lot of content has restrictions on it that depends on geography and a number of other factors. From a technical standpoint, there are issues when metadata gets stripped and therefore you can't figure out what the rights situation is with a certain piece of material / music / whatever. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

One obvious solution is to stop slicing up rights based on geography, time, and other factors (that seems to me to be the obvious solution anyways; I don't know about the legal issues involved). It's silly IMO because in Canada, I can't buy certain songs on iTunes while Americans can buy those songs.
busterkeaton wrote on 8/9/2008, 9:40 PM
John, I was just coming here to post this link about Silverlight.

I had posted that Microsoft was going to use the Olympics as a way to push Silverlight, but completely forgotten it until I saw a comment on political blog by someone who could get video but not sound. Apparently MS paid NBC 200 million to go with Silverlight.

riredale wrote on 8/9/2008, 9:42 PM
I read in the paper this morning (reading a newspaper--how retro!) that NBC was having fits because lots of foreign broadcasters were streaming opening ceremonies and that viewers back in the USA could see stuff 12 hours before NBC meant for them to see it. NBC was trying to patch holes but more holes were opening up faster than they could get to them. Haven't tried looking for the sites, though.
JackW wrote on 8/9/2008, 10:00 PM
Fortunately here in Seattle we can get CBC and bypass NBC and it's endless commercial interruptions entirely. The way the opening ceremony was broken up on Friday night made it all but unwatchable!

Jack
johnmeyer wrote on 8/10/2008, 12:25 AM
The NYTimes article on Silverlight pretty much misses the point because the author clearly wants to have fun bashing Microsoft for trying to compete. The point he misses is that Silverlight doesn't work. I tried to download and then install it on three computers, and it refused to install on any of them (I then restored those computers to their previous state because I am fairly certain that anything MS does will "phone home" and tell them things about my usage that I don't think they have any right to know).

Anyway, I understand the desire to have some control over what gets shown and when because NBC is in the business of selling commercials. However, I'd pay a fair amount of money to see this content without commercials, and view it live, if I wish, or after the fact. It is amazing how greed, and fear of adopting new ways of doing business makes the management of TV and movie companies do so many stupid things. They could make MUCH more money if they quit trying to micromanage everything about the viewing experience and instead focuses on providing what we all want, and spending their time, energy, and money instead on finding creative ways for us to pay for it.
apit34356 wrote on 8/10/2008, 12:41 AM
Well John, Silverlight uses some of the Intel media SSL instructions and their subsets. Older computers will not run them, especially older AMDs, but any X2's and newer ones will work just fine. I ran silverlight plugin in Firefox OK. But I don't blame anyone questioning MS$$ about snooping.
rs170a wrote on 8/10/2008, 5:12 AM
John, I have no idea if you'll run into ISP issues or not but try checking out our Canadian broadcaster's coverage.
CBC Olympic coverage.
BTW, I was surprised to find that NBC didn't carry the opening ceremonies live on Friday morning.
It was probably a good thing though as, when I watched some of it again on Friday night, I found that the commentators talked way too much (in comparison to our Canadians, that is).

Mike
Xander wrote on 8/10/2008, 6:27 AM
I had to switch some companies to the alternate TV channels as they did not want to pay extra to watch the Olympics. Will switch them back once the Olympics is finished.
BobMoyer wrote on 8/10/2008, 8:33 AM
A dumb question - no doubt - But are there any reasons or issues to suggest that one should NOT install the MS's Silverlight?

XP/Vegas 8.0b

Bob
nolonemo wrote on 8/10/2008, 9:02 AM
"John, I have no idea if you'll run into ISP issues or not but try checking out our Canadian broadcaster's coverage.
CBC Olympic coverage."

Locked out here in L.A. The real pity of it is that the NBC coverage is so pathetic. If NBC Sports (or any U.S. sports broadcaster) were broadcasting ballet, the announcers would be nattering inanely throughout.
Patryk Rebisz wrote on 8/10/2008, 9:48 AM
Net neutrality -- remember all those Republican screaming that if the bill was passed it would allow people to see more at more fair price? Haha. While in reality it would look just like what you were describing here. Unless your internet is provided by certain provider you can't watch anything. Never, ever believe what a big company is saying (or a Republican for that matter), flip it 180 degrees and you will get the truth.
Coursedesign wrote on 8/10/2008, 9:48 AM
There are lots of Canadians in Los Angeles watching CBC off satellite.

Amazingly, watching this requires a special government permit in the Land of the Free, which if course nobody has.

Perhaps the Feds are worried about Cuba setting up something like "Radio Free America" by satellite, creating "a revolution where the TV-watching masses rise against their capitalist oppressors" :O).

Re Silverlight, I don't think anyone has a clear picture of what it may screw up.

Better to find an overseas source of online Olympics coverage, using a remote proxy if necessary.

johnmeyer wrote on 8/10/2008, 9:55 AM
This problem has nothing to do with Republicans (or Democrats). This is obvious because, despite the CBC apparently providing more open coverage in this particular instance, the DRM problem is international.

Instead, the problem has everything to do with media companies doing really stupid things trying to protect their rights. Of course they have both the right and the duty to their shareholders to protect these rights. However, they have obviously shot themselves in the foot on this one, just as they have with every other attempt to force users to "behave" they way they want them to. This in turn actually ends up hurting their profits and therefore their shareholders.

The correct way to approach this is harness customer behavior rather than to coerce it.