8 ms·

Why is the BBC future site not accessible from the UK?

14 points by barny 14y ago

mootothemax 14y ago
I'm failing to understand why you've posted this, when the explanation is right smack bang in the middle of the page you've linked: We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com On a technical interest note, I viewed the page first from my home here in Poland, then via my UK proxy using the same cookies. Both worked, but as soon as I switched to Incognito mode using the same UK proxy, I got the "go away" message. At a guess they're doing something with cookies to prevent repeated geo-up lookups. The fun part is that when viewing using the UK proxy but with my "I'm a foreigner" cookies, adverts magically disappear from the page. Interesting mix of geo-ip tech they must be using :)
- Devilboy 14y ago
  I don't understand... this site is available for everyone EXCEPT people in the UK? And their explanation makes sense to you?
- barny 14y ago
  I posted it because the explanation given makes absolutely no sense. The fact that it is not funded by the licence fee is not an explanation. It might be a reason to show adverts on the page, but it is not a reason to restrict access. I find it ridiculous that a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation is producing content that can be accessed from any country but Britain, regardless of how it is funded.
  - mootothemax 14y ago
    I posted it because the explanation given makes absolutely no sense. Well that's a different question to the one in the post title ;-) The fact that it is not funded by the licence fee is not an explanation... I find it ridiculous It is an explanation, albeit one that you don't like. Fair enough. My worry is that people will kick up a huge fuss over this when, frankly, it's a storm in a teacup.
    - EwanToo 14y ago
      It's absolutely not an explanation as far as I'm concerned. BBC Worldwide does operate in the UK, it sells DVDs, magazines, etc, so there seems no reason to lock UK users out of a specific website just "because" - the explanation they give does nothing to expand on the "because" element.
    - andyjohnson0 14y ago
      Its not that he doesn't like the explanation. Its that he doesn't understand the explanation because it doesn't make any sense. And I don't understand it either. (UK citizen living in UK, big supporter of BBC)
aes256 14y ago
I suppose this is similar in principle to the Top Gear magazine. It's not funded by the licence fee, but by revenue from the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide. It's not as though those in the UK who pay the licence fee have a right to view the content free of charge. Presumably the international version of the site is supported by advertising (as many other BBC online properties are), and someone decided it would be better to just block UK users' access to this content than to provide it to them with advertising, creating no end of confusion...
- lucian1900 14y ago
  I'm pretty sure the BBC aren't allowed to make a profit from ads from UK viewers.
  - aac74 14y ago
    They soon will. In the UK there are two versions of the BBC. The main one charges a 'licence fee' if you own a tv and another one called 'channel 4'. Channel 4 is part funded out of general taxation and part funded by ads. They will soon be forced to merge because the internet is bringing the licence fee racket to an end. The BBC is desperately trying to work out a way to tax ISPs !
    - stuartmemo 14y ago
      There's not one thing in this comment that is true or makes sense. Channel 4 has nothing to do with the BBC. ISPs are trying to charge the BBC for iPlayer bandwidth, not the other way round.
- sthulbourn 14y ago
  I work for the BBC and can confirm this. The content on /future is generated and created by BBC Worldwide and thus, unavailable to the UK because of this... They can't show adverts on this page and allow people from the UK to see it because this would cause confusion and make people wonder where their licence fee is going.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
aac74 14y ago
Being from the UK the explanation is perfectly clear to me. The BBC is Mussolini's vision of the corporatist state distilled to its basic essence. He is perfectly correct to post this. Why are people forced to fund private business ? How can this generate an optimal structure of production ? If the demand was there for the product no 'force funding' would be required and thus we would be sure that scarce resources were being put to their best, wealth creating, use. It is immoral to send people to jail for watching unencrypted tv streams. Just as it is wrong to send people a product they didn't want and then bill them when they use it. It is even worse to do this then recycle the cash into a foreign business then use profits from that business to prop up the main racket !
- icebraining 14y ago
  Not sure if you can classify the BBC as a "private business". It's a company which has a Royal Charter, and its governing body (the BBC Trust) is composed of twelve members appointed by the Queen.
  - aac74 14y ago
    When it is almost impossible to tell the difference between state, charity, business and government you have Mussolini's vision perfectly enacted. Society now serves to enhance the power and prestige of the state rather than the other way around.
    - icebraining 14y ago
      But I disagree that it's almost impossible to tell the difference. The BBC is an extremely different company in many fundamental ways. I think that if we were to consider the BBC as a signal of Fascism, then the term loses all meaning because even the states criticized by Mussolini had state controlled companies, from the what he called supercapitalists to the socialists.
alexanderst 14y ago
The interesting thing is that the site opens correctly here in Bulgaria.

14 points by barny 14y ago

I'm failing to understand why you've posted this, when the explanation is right smack bang in the middle of the page you've linked: We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com On a technical interest note, I viewed the page first from my home here in Poland, then via my UK proxy using the same cookies. Both worked, but as soon as I switched to Incognito mode using the same UK proxy, I got the "go away" message. At a guess they're doing something with cookies to prevent repeated geo-up lookups. The fun part is that when viewing using the UK proxy but with my "I'm a foreigner" cookies, adverts magically disappear from the page. Interesting mix of geo-ip tech they must be using :)

Devilboy 14y ago
I don't understand... this site is available for everyone EXCEPT people in the UK? And their explanation makes sense to you?
barny 14y ago
I posted it because the explanation given makes absolutely no sense. The fact that it is not funded by the licence fee is not an explanation. It might be a reason to show adverts on the page, but it is not a reason to restrict access. I find it ridiculous that a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation is producing content that can be accessed from any country but Britain, regardless of how it is funded.
- mootothemax 14y ago
  I posted it because the explanation given makes absolutely no sense. Well that's a different question to the one in the post title ;-) The fact that it is not funded by the licence fee is not an explanation... I find it ridiculous It is an explanation, albeit one that you don't like. Fair enough. My worry is that people will kick up a huge fuss over this when, frankly, it's a storm in a teacup.
  - EwanToo 14y ago
    It's absolutely not an explanation as far as I'm concerned. BBC Worldwide does operate in the UK, it sells DVDs, magazines, etc, so there seems no reason to lock UK users out of a specific website just "because" - the explanation they give does nothing to expand on the "because" element.
  - andyjohnson0 14y ago
    Its not that he doesn't like the explanation. Its that he doesn't understand the explanation because it doesn't make any sense. And I don't understand it either. (UK citizen living in UK, big supporter of BBC)

aes256 14y ago

I suppose this is similar in principle to the Top Gear magazine. It's not funded by the licence fee, but by revenue from the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide. It's not as though those in the UK who pay the licence fee have a right to view the content free of charge. Presumably the international version of the site is supported by advertising (as many other BBC online properties are), and someone decided it would be better to just block UK users' access to this content than to provide it to them with advertising, creating no end of confusion...

lucian1900 14y ago
I'm pretty sure the BBC aren't allowed to make a profit from ads from UK viewers.
- aac74 14y ago
  They soon will. In the UK there are two versions of the BBC. The main one charges a 'licence fee' if you own a tv and another one called 'channel 4'. Channel 4 is part funded out of general taxation and part funded by ads. They will soon be forced to merge because the internet is bringing the licence fee racket to an end. The BBC is desperately trying to work out a way to tax ISPs !
  - stuartmemo 14y ago
    There's not one thing in this comment that is true or makes sense. Channel 4 has nothing to do with the BBC. ISPs are trying to charge the BBC for iPlayer bandwidth, not the other way round.
sthulbourn 14y ago
I work for the BBC and can confirm this. The content on /future is generated and created by BBC Worldwide and thus, unavailable to the UK because of this... They can't show adverts on this page and allow people from the UK to see it because this would cause confusion and make people wonder where their licence fee is going.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

aac74 14y ago

Being from the UK the explanation is perfectly clear to me. The BBC is Mussolini's vision of the corporatist state distilled to its basic essence. He is perfectly correct to post this. Why are people forced to fund private business ? How can this generate an optimal structure of production ? If the demand was there for the product no 'force funding' would be required and thus we would be sure that scarce resources were being put to their best, wealth creating, use. It is immoral to send people to jail for watching unencrypted tv streams. Just as it is wrong to send people a product they didn't want and then bill them when they use it. It is even worse to do this then recycle the cash into a foreign business then use profits from that business to prop up the main racket !

icebraining 14y ago
Not sure if you can classify the BBC as a "private business". It's a company which has a Royal Charter, and its governing body (the BBC Trust) is composed of twelve members appointed by the Queen.
- aac74 14y ago
  When it is almost impossible to tell the difference between state, charity, business and government you have Mussolini's vision perfectly enacted. Society now serves to enhance the power and prestige of the state rather than the other way around.
  - icebraining 14y ago
    But I disagree that it's almost impossible to tell the difference. The BBC is an extremely different company in many fundamental ways. I think that if we were to consider the BBC as a signal of Fascism, then the term loses all meaning because even the states criticized by Mussolini had state controlled companies, from the what he called supercapitalists to the socialists.

alexanderst 14y ago

The interesting thing is that the site opens correctly here in Bulgaria.