Q&A: Ashley Highfield, head of BBC's Future Media and Technology unit

As head of the BBC's Future Media and Technology unit Ashley Highfield, one of this year's silicon.com Agenda Setters, is responsible for dragging the Beeb into the digital age through initiatives such as the iPlayer.

The launch of the iPlayer, however, hasn't been without controversy - attracting criticism for the delay in Mac and Linux versions and restrictive digital rights management (DRM).

In this exclusive interview with silicon.com, Highfield answers those iPlayer critics and talks about the future of DRM and 'web 3.0'.

silicon.com: Has criticism of the iPlayer, both around non-PC versions and DRM, been fair?
Highfield: No. It's understandable if we'd only ever intended to launch an XP-only iPlayer but that was never the plan. When we launch services we will always try to get to the largest part of that universe. The PC universe is the largest part of that. It was just the starting point. By Christmas we will have a streaming solution for Mac and Linux users. It was always part of our work plan but maybe we didn't communicate it fully or widely enough.

But you have said the BBC is still unable to commit to developing a download version for Mac users?
We do want to find a download solution, if at all possible, for Mac users. We do believe the next suite of Adobe Air products will enable us to offer a download solution for Macs and we believe that would be possible at some point during 2008. The point is, I'm not going to be able to commit to it until we've got our sticky mitts on it, tried it, tested it, worked out the cost implications.

Until we've got hold of the software and had conversations with Adobe it's just a case of not being able to commit to these things. And I think that's a better way around of doing it, rather than saying we're going to do something and then finding out we can't do it. I do believe we will be able to and I'm pretty certain at some point during 2008 we will have one but it's just not being able to formally commit now a timescale to it.

You've been seen lately showing off your brand new iPod Touch. Are you also personally a Mac user?
I am a deep lover of Macs. I have had one in the past. I got the iPod Touch in New York before they were here. I use a Sony Vaio on a day-to-day basis. I don't have a particular philosophy of manufacturers or solutions. I have a media centre sitting in front of me with the television above it and on it I have both the iTunes library and my Zune library. I love technology and I tend to go out and experiment and play with everything. I have an affinity with stuff that's just really well built, well designed and works well - not any particular manufacturer. I think the iPod Touch is a beautiful piece of design. If everything could have that intuitiveness of use… and certainly in terms of the BBC iPlayer, I aspire to it being that easy to use.

Criticism of the iPlayer has also centred on what many view as restrictive DRM, in that programmes are only available to view for a limited period?
The BBC is not wedded to DRM or any form of DRM. I'm not in bed with Beelzebub. It's a solution to a necessary evil. The rights' holders have been on a very long journey which we have led them on. It started three years ago when they didn't want anything longer than 30 seconds on a BBC website or the internet. They are paranoid that they will get ripped off and lose all of their revenues from DVD sales or from selling onto other TV networks.

I think in the world now we've got an ecology where almost all television and radio programmes are available free for a period of time. That, I think, is quite a good place to have got to but we are only halfway down the journey. I don't think there is anyone in my area of the BBC who wouldn't like to see us go much further so that the rights framework becomes much less restrictive and it becomes much easier to move, copy and share BBC content once you've downloaded it or once it's been streamed. That's the next phase of the journey, how do we now move forward, maybe even to a world beyond DRM?

How long will that journey to less restrictive and more user-friendly DRM take?
I wish I had the answer. I have just come back from a trip to the States where we saw a bunch of companies that are trying to develop what I think we could call an intelligent wrap around content. The wrap would have a set of rules as to how that content should behave wherever it appears. If that works then a piece of content like Top Gear that you can download in the first seven days and watch for free with no adverts. If you then decide to send it to a mate in America, when they came to watching it the wrap around the content would go 'ah I'm in America now' and could dynamically insert an advert into it because this is not public service now, this is part of bbc.com or BBC Worldwide.

And I think that idea of having intelligence in the metadata in the content to get us to a situation where we can be much more relaxed about how the content is distributed. Because if it ends up on YouTube more than seven days after transmission the rules could say 'ah, now I'm in a commercial environment. I'm now part of BBC Worldwide, I can now run adverts, I can maybe shrink the bitrate because I'm on YouTube, I might even cut the programme down'.

This technology is in its early stages. In the space of maybe two to five years we could see these solutions maybe replace the necessity for restrictive DRM. We are so trying to make this future come about. We are working with the technology partners making clear what our needs are and making it very clear to the rights holders the advantages of being more relaxed with their content - the advantages to them of having wider distribution through the likes of Facebook and YouTube.

There was speculation earlier this year about the BBC being in talks to develop a pan-broadcaster iPlayer under the codename 'Project Kangaroo'. What is the latest with that project?
What's in the public domain is correct. John Smith, the CEO of BBC Worldwide, stated that Worldwide are in conversation with the other public service broadcasters to assess the practicalities and commercial interests of getting together and launching a single point for being able to access video and audio in the UK. At the moment that's all we can say on it. No timeframes.

Interview continues on page 2