The BBC has announced that it will release its own video codec.  After ears of work, the subsidized BBC will release software that competes directly with Microsoft, Apple, and Real, with one predictable slant.  The software is being released under an open-source license, and will be called Dirac, because the name stuck.

Why would the BBC release a video codec as socialism open-source software?  The BBC will benefit by saving money once it cancels its contract with U.S. based Real.  Since the BBC receives money with little to no expected return on investment, there is no need to sell the software. This opens the opportunity for further inappropriate competition with US based companies by tapping into the open-source labor force, which is the only way a company like the BBC could even dream of competing with the likes of Microsoft. 

What open-source labor force?  You know… those geeks who work at home in their pajamas for free, and really don’t care about making money because in their perfect world, everything is community property.  Why is this inappropriate?  Because the world economy is based upon fair competition and markets are primarily regulated by the presence of consumer demand.  Just as the EU has no business subsidizing Airbus, the UK has no business funding technological projects designed to compete with American businesses, or any business for that matter.  And furthermore, since the GPL and its open-source license derivatives were designed to attack software capitalism, it can be logically concluded that the BBC’s socialistic ultra-progressive agenda is an anti-capitalistic sling being wielded by the UK. 

I predict that devoted BBC customers will install the new software because it will be required for BBC content, but widespread adoption will likely be limited to this select group.  The BBC already missed the distribution boat, as did Real, when they both failed to convince PC manufacturers to bundle their technology with the EU’s butchered version of Windows XP.  Other serious commercial efforts to stream video across the Internet will be based on video solutions that implement strong digital rights management (DRM) technologies.  As any technologically savvy reader already knows, the open-source community is very much against DRM.  Why?  Because it means they can’t steal share content protected by copyright.

Article found at New Scientist.
BBC Dirac Link

W.S.