Originally Posted by
JiveLad
Ah yes, Project Canvas - another fine example of the big BBC beast out of control.
To date, there are five major criticisms of Project Canvas:
1. Lack of information in the BBC Executive's current proposals. Industry associations, the regulator Ofcom, and competitive content providers have all remarked on the lack of meaningful detail publicly released so far.
2. Unnecessary development of more IPTV standards. Concern that the project is unnecessarily duplicating the existing efforts by various manufacturers and trade bodies to develop standards, rather than meaningfully contribute to these efforts. Related are concerns that the standard developed by Canvas for use in the United Kingdom will possibly be markedly different to continental European IPTV standards.
3. The potential negative effect Canvas might have on commercial providers in the video and TV market.
4. A platform that is not truly open. The BBC's proposal for Project Canvas states that there will be "clear editorial standards" in place regarding what content will and will not be allowed. (It should be noted however that these standards have not been made publicly, or possibly even yet drafted by the BBC[1-p12]). It is also reported that some consumer electronic device manufacturers also worry about not having been included around standards discussions with the BBC to date.
5. Wrong level of Standard - UI Control. Rather than just defining the service specification and having some basic receiver recommendations Canvas is defining detailed hardware and system software requirements and then the Canvas JV will manage application software and UI design. This will restrict the range of devices unnecessarily and deter manufacturers bringing extra features which they may not be able to make easily available to customers. There are also potentially massive liability issues in this approach as it is unclear who would be responsible if an update either caused malfunctions and problems OR removed features. Would the customer or the manufacturer be able to claim against the Canvas JV?
Other criticisms raised include concerns about the negative impact that increased online video viewing could have on internet service providers' infrastructure and expenses.
BSkyB
One of the most vocal opponents of the Project Canvas proposal to date has been British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB / Sky). Sky's criticisms relate to claims that the BBC should be focused on content and not creating platforms, and that its proposals to date have been severely lacking in detail. It has also criticised the BBC Trust and claimed it does not have a firm grasp of the complexity of the issues. BSkyB's full submission to the BBC Trust's first round of public consultation is available here on the Sky site (PDF)
Press coverage on August 17, 2009 was given to a letter Sky sent to the BBC Trust, in which Sky criticised two points: the first was the short time given for parties to respond after the further information release in late July; the second was the lack of the Trust asking Ofcom to conduct a market impact assessment[2].
Intellect - UK CE Council
From the summary of their response to the Trust. Please note how strong the criticism is for a consensus document of so many parties.
By seeking to define a UK specific standard in a global market Canvas runs the risk of creating a technological island. Manufacturing economies of scale will be lost, some manufacturers will not make equipment for the UK market and consumers will lose the benefits that these market forces bring such as choice, quality and value for money.
The BBC has either not carried out due diligence on other existing standards development projects in this area or has decided not to work with them for reasons that have not been made clear.
There has been a lack of transparency in the process to date which has caused confusion and uncertainty in the marketplace and could directly lead to a significant loss of investment made by manufacturers.
The consultation makes it clear that Canvas is not an open standard but rather a “standards based open environment”. We believe that genuine open standards while more difficult and time-consuming to develop, have proven to be most effective and successful when deployed.
The current proposal goes beyond simply creating an open environment. It seeks to assert inappropriate control over parts of the market where manufacturers and retailers would usually compete and innovate to the benefit of consumers e.g. the design of Electronic Programme Guides.
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