Windows Media crack won't delay iPlayer

The launch of the BBC's new media player will not be delayed by a new crack for the digital rights management features of Windows Media Player, the corporation said on Tuesday.

The iPlayer, which is based on Microsoft's media player and DRM technology, is due to be launched on 27 July, and has already attracted controversy and criticism over the decision to use proprietary technology for a platform supposedly catering to all licence-fee payers - at its launch it will work only on computers running Windows XP.

But the recent reappearance of FairUse4WM, a utility that can strip the copy protection from Windows Media Player content, threatened fresh problems for the scheme.

FairUse4WM first appeared last year. Microsoft hastily patched Windows Media Player against it, but 'Viodentia', the anonymous distributor of the utility, cracked Microsoft's patch. As a result, Sky had to temporarily shut down its broadband movie download service, which was based on Windows Media Player.

A revised version of FairUse4WM reappeared on forums late last week, and the utility now effectively strips the DRM from iPlayer content allowing it to be copied and played into perpetuity rather than for the limited period intended by the BBC.

On Tuesday the BBC issued a statement insisting that the crack "won't delay the launch of BBC iPlayer".

The statement continued: "We know that some people can - and do - download BBC programmes illegally. This isn't the first piece of software to be hacked or bypassed. Nor will it be the last. No system is perfect. We believe that the overwhelming majority of licence-fee payers welcome this service and will want to use it fairly."

In its statement, the BBC also maintained that the iPlayer would be "a service for every licence payer in the UK", and defended the principle of attaching copy protection to content by pointing out that DRM was desirable to the independent producers making a third of the BBC's content.

Microsoft also responded to the crack on Tuesday with confirmation that it was aware of the issue and was in the process of verifying the circumvention.

David Meyer writes for ZDNet UK