On demand Video content not available on Mac.

[camking]

Can anyone tell me about if this situation is likely to change any time soon, as I believe the BBC here in the UK are also launching a on demand online service and I will also want to access this.

I copied this from the channel 4 site


"Will I be able to access 4oD on my Mac?

Unfortunately not at the launch of 4oD.

This is an industry-wide issue caused because the accepted Digital Rights Management (DRM) system used to protect online video content, which is required by our content owners, is not compatible with Apple Mac hardware and software. The closed DRM system used by Apple is not currently available for license by third parties and there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of content owners. Unfortunately, we are therefore unable to offer 4oD content to Mac users at this stage."

 

[jholzner]

Can anyone tell me about if this situation is likely to change any time soon, as I believe the BBC here in the UK are also launching a on demand online service and I will also want to access this.

I copied this from the channel 4 site


"Will I be able to access 4oD on my Mac?

Unfortunately not at the launch of 4oD.

This is an industry-wide issue caused because the accepted Digital Rights Management (DRM) system used to protect online video content, which is required by our content owners, is not compatible with Apple Mac hardware and software. The closed DRM system used by Apple is not currently available for license by third parties and there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of content owners. Unfortunately, we are therefore unable to offer 4oD content to Mac users at this stage."

This pisses me off too and it's not likely to change anytime soon. MS has no plans to update WMP for the Mac so we are left out of all DRM'd content. This is pretty much the ONLY reason I want to put Windows on an Intel Mac. It's just as much Apple's fault as MS's. They refuse to create this sort of technology so others can distribute content via quicktime with adequate DRM.