Bonum Certa Men Certa

10 Questions to a Microsoft-corrupted BBC

The next post will delve into some details about the dumping techniques used by Microsoft to suppress competition, along with some new shocking examples.

In the mean time, the BBC, which threw taxpayers' money at Microsoft's direction, has many problems and questions to address:

  1. Paying €£120 million for Silverlight/iPlayer with < 400,000 users was not a criminal waste of taxpayer money.


  2. The BBC's DG should provide a watertight reason for not knowing the costs of the Silverlight/iPlayer other than "more than €£20 millions" when answering questions in parliament.


  3. The BBC's ex-Microsoft staff should demonstrate why there was never a tender for the vast sums of money being spent - this is a requirement by EU law, and even if the figure is closer to €£20 million than €£100 million, the law has clearly been broken.


  4. The BBC should explain why it refused to comply with the requests from the OSC's representatives for multi-platform players unless the EU forced it to.


  5. The BBC should explain why the adobe-flash version of iPlayer was developed and deployed in a few weeks, at negligible cost, and has already got a much greater user-base.


  6. The BBC should explain why it was launching a P2P system with no means for customers to control the actions of their PCs, possibly resulting in ISPs needing to take significant action.


  7. The BBC should explain why its news department had no coverage at all of the protests regarding its Silverlight/iPlayer.


  8. The BBC should explain how it will seek recovery of the money spent with Microsoft.


  9. The BBC should explain why it is now claimed that the flash version of iPlayer was not initially part of the plan, and yet MPs were told otherwise by the DG.


  10. The BBC should explain why their content providers "intractable" demands for DRM "protection" mysteriously no longer apply, now that they're using Flash streaming. For that matter, they should explain why such "protection" should have been deemed mandatory anyway, when that same content is already broadcast en clair.


BBC, you have many questions to answer. Failing to address them would leave you in a peculiar position.

We could certainly go further and question the integrity of the BBC's coverage. The BBC has recently let Bill Gates publish his own self-promotional columns while the highly-successful Linux-powered laptop received this article where the Asus Eee PC is described only as "a lightweight machine, which can run Windows XP", with no mention of Linux whatsoever, despite the fact that Linux is the default OS shipped with the unit. Is the BBC encouraging 'piracy' of Windows? Does it have some terms forbidding the mention of "Linux"?

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Richard Stallman's Next Public Talk is in Milan, Italy Next Week
Happy hacking
Why We'll Continue Covering EPO Abuses (Other Patent Offices as Well, as the Need Arises) for Many Years to Come
We're basically becoming Russia
These Feet Are Made for Walking
Humans are apparently so very clever that they decided to form a "progressive" consensus: feet no more
OFTC Has Just Culled About a Third of Its Online Users
It's not the first time they purge or force offline many people/bots
Central Staff Committee of the EPO Opposes Abuses Against EPO Staff, Challenging SuccessFactors Stunts
Europe became institutionally colonised
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: "Conspirituality" and Visiting One's Old University
Links for the day
 
Slopwatch: Slopfarms That 'Hallucinate' (Yield Falsehoods) Cited as Credible Sources and Microsoft Media Gaslighting Everybody
Part of the problem is, Google News
More Media Coverage and Photos From Richard Stallman's Presentation in Liberec (Czech Republic)
Here are some photos
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Spooking Women for at Least Two Decades
censorship was the ultimate goal
Links 22/05/2025: Openwashing, Dumping Microsoft's Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub), and New Climate Disasters
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: Crimson Pro Font and CGI in Bash
Links for the day
IBM Goes to India, Fires People in the United States (Under the Guise of "Relocation" or Similar), Accusation of Bribery in the Company
LLM slop sites (some are pure slopfarms) from India say the IBM layoffs result in hiring "AI" (the "I" stands for India)
Links 22/05/2025: TikTok Laying Off Again, Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy, Scam Altman Uses 'Funny Money' to 'Buy' (Hire) Company
Links for the day
We Seem to Have Abandoned Science and Replaced Sound Policy With Private Patent Shareholders and College Dropouts Like Bill Espteingate
Because of what they did there are now many people out there who reject all vaccines
The Evolution of Microsoft's War on GNU/Linux
13 sins
My New Desk Arrangement (and More Breaks From the Keyboard)
all in all yesterday I devoted 4-5 hours to redoing and shuffling stuff
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Bigots and Lunatics Who Attack Microsoft Critics, Projecting Their Own Bigotry by Accusing Others of Imaginary Things (Which They're Innocent Of)
"In psychology, projection refers to assigning your negative traits or unwanted emotions to others without being aware you’re doing it."
"The Appeals Committee [at the EPO] Unanimously Stated a Formal Flaw in the Consultation of the General Consultative Committee (GCC) on the Reform"
It's a truly horrifying situation
Microsoft Killed the Term "Open Source" (by Bribing/Taking Over OSI, 'Linux' Foundation Etc.) and Now It Needs to Kill the Brand Linux (Because Windows Just Won't Run!)
Why else would Microsoft falsely describe Windows as "Linux" and "Open Source"?
Slopwatch: Liars for Microsoft, Plagiarism, and IBM Red Hat Markets Slop as "AI"
Today was a bad day news-wise
Links 21/05/2025: Climate Problems and Ceasefires No Longer Foreseen
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/05/2025: "Shrimps of Doom" and "ASCII-graphs"
Links for the day
Links 21/05/2025: GitHub Becoming Slop, MElon as a Drug Addict Considered National Security Risk
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Slopfarms 'Think' Redis is "Linux" (RedisRaider)
Today we'll keep it short and to the point again
IBM Has Allegedly Just Sacked Mr. McKinsey (McK), Clay Cowan, Its Fourth CMO in a Few Years
To insiders he represented the company that's killing IBM or advising IBM on how to self-destruct
Gemini Links 21/05/2025: Trips, 4D Golf, and Writing Software
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Links 20/05/2025: Biden's Cancer, GDPR Changes, and UK Defamation Cases (or SLAPPs) Fail Again
Links for the day
Microsofters Targeting the Wife of the Critic of Microsoft
false claims and loaded statement
Links 20/05/2025: "Bankrupt 23andMe Just Sold Off All Your DNA Data" and "Free Speech Warriors" MIA
Links for the day
Microsoft a Top Sponsor at Red Hat Summit (IBM Selling Proprietary Spyware and Back Doors in a "Red" Trench Coat)
They both work for Microsoft
Openwashing of Windows, Back Doors, Persistent Surveillance, Keyloggers, Screen Loggers, DRM and So On
WSL is not "Linux", it's Windows
New 'Interview' With - or Talk Coverage of - Richard Stallman in the European Union
automated English translation
IBM Mass Redundancies Likely This Coming Thursday
We're not in a position to judge if that's true or false
Gemini Links 20/05/2025: LLM Scraper Bots in Gopher and "Starmer and the Somewheres"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 19, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, May 19, 2025