The British Broadcasting Corporation has decided to use Digital Rights Management (DRM) in its new iPlayer software to control how it's 'on-demand' material is viewed.

This decision could have devastating consequences: The proposed BBC iPlayer download manager element requires Windows Media Player 10 and Windows XP. So for those using Linux or Mac OS for example, the BBC's 'on-demand' material will probably not be accessible.

For more detailed articles on this matter please read: iPlayer - wikipedia entry and Save the BBC from Windows DRM!

There is a petition collecting signatures at the Number 10 Downing Street website aimed at preventing this from happening.

Update: There is a news item in the May 11th issue of UK magazine MacUser that states the BBC has softened on this issue and intends to support other operating systems with iPlayer. Perhaps this is due to the BBC Trust's recent public consultation, which seems to have ended (links to the online survey are now dead).