Here are some Windows Media related headlines that caught my eye recently:

• Microsoft has released new “preview” versions of Expression Blend and the Expression Media Encoder that work with Silverlight 1.0 RC.
• Vishal Sood has a nice post up about Server Side Playlists with Windows Media Services.
• Engadget has heard that FairUse4WM is capable of stripping the DRM from files acquired via the BBC’s new iPlayer.
• For developers: David Mullet explains how to automate Windows Media Player using Ruby.
• Long Zheng has dug up additional information on Vista SP1. Among other things, it should include an update to DirectX 10.

Hope you had a great weekend!

The Register is reporting today that the BBC Trust has asked to meet with the Open Source Consortium (OSC) to discuss the group’s concerns with the forthcoming iPlayer application (see our previous post for details).

Sources at [Ofcom] told The Register that although its formal role in the process was completed when it delivered its market impact assessment in January, it felt the OSC’s concerns that Mac and Linux users will not have access to iPlayer demanded a hearing.

Before the trust got in touch on Wednesday, OSC CEO Rick Timmis said: “Everything we’ve done in the trust’s direction has fallen on deaf ears. They’ve completely ignored us.”

I’m not sure what the meeting will accomplish, as the BBC seems pretty set on the Windows Media DRM-based iPlayer moving ahead with a launch later this month, but it’s good that they are at least going to talk.

A somewhat related article in The Guardian today suggests that Silverlight (and the open source Moonlight) could be a solution to the cross platform compatability problem:

Many media companies, including the BBC, have been using WMV (Windows Media Video) because Microsoft’s DRM is openly licensed and lets them control how content is used. Videos can, for example, be time-limited. But they have also been attacked because the protected videos don’t run on Macs or Linux boxes. Silverlight could be a solution.

Who knows, maybe the BBC’s iPlayer will be replaced before long with a Silverlight-based alternative.

The BBC has announced a launch date for iPlayer, it’s on demand TV service. Starting July 27th, users will be able to use the software to download popular BBC content seven days after its first transmission. Nothing has changed on the technology front - it will still be Windows-only initially, and it will still use Windows Media DRM (the BBC website says it will work with Windows Media Player 10 or above). The application will be improved too:

Over time other features will be added to the iPlayer including live streaming of programmes, the BBC Radio Player and “series stacking”, which will allow users to download episodes from series retrospectively.

Director General Mark Thompson compared the launch of iPlayer to the launch of color television (which the BBC introduced 40 years ago) in terms of its impact. I think that remains to be seen, but the BBC could indeed be on to something.

I was reading some blog posts about the launch date news, and came across Tim Anderson’s post. He’s excited for the software, but worries that using Microsoft technology could doom the software:

This aspect bothers me as well, not only because of cross-platform issues, but because I question whether Microsoft is able to deliver DRM that just works.

Umm, can you give me an example of any other DRM that “just works”? I don’t think you can use DRM and “just works” in the same sentence, at least not from the consumer’s point of view. Like the Open Source Consortium, I think Tim has picked the wrong enemy.