

Zattoo: Europe gets IPTV including BBC - edward
http://zattoo.com/

======
bluelu
I used it a few times in Switzerland as well. When a lot of users are watching
a stream, you sometimes get kicked out or image artifacts. It will be
interesting to see how Zattoo will handle the load at the soccer EM starting
in 2 weeks, and even if they are providing an alternative.

For someone interested in doing a p2p video startup. A member of the research
group I did my master thesis in, recently made his research project
opensource. It's a p2p opensource video player with h264 decoding support
(with opengl hardware acceleration), and playback controls (you can also go
back in time and forward). Users can also play videos directly from their
browser with the java applet, so you don't have to install pulsar. It's also
build to handle lots of clients. You can get it here:
<http://dev.getpulsar.com/>

A few example streams are here: <http://www.getpulsar.com/examples/>

This might be very helpful for some people trying to do a startup in this
area.

Edit. Just saw that only parts are opensource, not everything.

~~~
pmjordan
Wow, OpenGL-accelerated h264 decoding? Has hey considered porting this to
popular open source media players? Linux could really do with an efficient
h264 decoder that can handle high-definition material on anything but the most
high-end systems.

------
PI
Zattoo is illegal (in the UK), as it doesn't have any partnerships with the TV
channels as well as the fact that we have to pay a license fee and the TV
Licensing people can't track "illegal" users of the service.

And to be honest, TV is crap. Here in the UK we have online catchup services
for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 only Five is missing a catchup service. And if
you want to watch live news coverage BBC News (24) streams video via the BBC
site.

~~~
pmjordan
From <http://zattoo.com/en/about-zattoo/what-is-zattoo>

_Is Zattoo really legal?_

 _Yes. Zattoo acquires the rights to retransmit the channels separately for
each country we launch in. It takes a lot of legwork (read: flight miles and
sizzling phone lines) to collect the necessary rights to transmit the
channels. Unlike the fast food world, the media world doesn’t operate on a
global basis, so if we acquire the rights to carry a French TV channel in
Switzerland, say, we don’t automatically get the right to carry it also in
France or Germany._

 _All of this doesn’t deter us, of course. Chances actually are that we’re
talking to a broadcaster somewhere right now, as you are reading this. So stay
tuned for more channels in Z-countries and a launch in countries that haven’t
been zattooed yet._

I guess it's possible that they're lying, but given that the channel lineup
varies greatly between countries, I somewhat doubt it.

~~~
PI
Zattoo is illegal because they are planning to insert advertisements in
between moving from channel to channel, and in the UK advertising is not
allowed on BBC channels because we the British public pay the license fee.

See:
[http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/08/tv_unfestiv...](http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/08/tv_unfestival_rights_and_new_t.html)
...and...
[http://informitv.com/articles/2008/05/09/zattooclaimscopyrig...](http://informitv.com/articles/2008/05/09/zattooclaimscopyright/)

Quote: In a statement the BBC said: “We have not entered into any formal
agreements with Zattoo to redistribute BBC channels”. ITV said: “We wouldn’t
rule out third party deals, but there aren’t any in place at the moment”.
Channel 4 said: “We don’t have any formal arrangements with Zattoo”. Five
said: “The inclusion of the Five service on Zattoo has not been authorised or
licenced by Five”.

------
pmjordan
_Coming Soon!

You seem to be accessing the Zattoo website from a country we do not yet
serve. Please enter your country of residence below, and when our service is
available there, we will contact you._

Damn. Looks like I won't be replacing my MythTV + DVB-S box anytime soon.
Props for having a Linux version though!

------
Shadow84
I've been using Zattoo for a while in Switzerland. The quality is bad but it
is sufficient to follow a sports event or the news.

Zattoo is great because together with my HSDPA Card and my Laptop I can watch
TV almost everywhere, it made TV portable :-)

------
jsmcgd
What do you make of it's data protection policy? _Zattoo shall make reasonable
efforts to protect personal data_. Is it stringent enough?

