Linux users now locked out of Blinkbox - they're going over to Silverlight.

[alexcckll]

Oh - this is bloody unfair - BLINKBOX now locking out Linux users
Hi folks,

got the following email from Blinkbox...

Dear Alex,

Here at blinkbox, we’re always trying hard to deliver the best movie experience for our customers. As part of this we wanted to let you know that from the 28th August we are switching from Adobe Flash Player to a new video player called Microsoft Silverlight when you use blinkbox.com on your computer.

We believe this will provide you with a better movie service, because:

• Silverlight will improve the viewing experience for our PC and Mac users
• It will deliver a ‘smooth streaming’ video service, meaning a higher quality picture for you
• It provides greater security than Flash against piracy, ensuring we can continue to show you great movies and TV shows.

You will probably already have a version of Silverlight installed on your computer, but if not you will need to install new software from the Microsoft website. Alternatively, simply follow the onscreen instructions when you visit blinkbox.com from the 28th August.

If you do get stuck or have any questions then please feel free to contact us at support@blinkbox.com.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you, but we really think it’s worth it and hope that you continue to enjoy great movie experiences at blinkbox.

Kind regards,

Michael Comish
CEO, blinkbox


I've emailed them back, asking..
----
hi folks,

I'm disappointed to hear about your changes - does this mean I can no longer test or play content on my Linux equipment?

Will my LG 32LV550T-ZC TV still be supported?


Please reconsider - as you are locking linux users out of your platform.
---
This is bloody sick..

Looks like I'll have to just chuck my Ubuntu netbook away, and go permanently back to Windows...

Why is this happening? Linux being locked out of the online streaming party completely?

Also asked them if I'll be able to manage my account and just RENT the content on my Linux netbook ready so it's easy to locate and play on my LG TV.

[Bucky Ball]

Will Moonlight do the job, the Linux version of Silverlight? I have it installed on all my machines to watch stuff from some sites online that require Silverlight.

[SeijiSensei]

Most commercial sites that use Silverlight also employ the proprietary DRM encumbrances that Silverlight provides. So, no, I doubt he will be able to use Moonlight.

[alexcckll]

Most commercial sites that use Silverlight also employ the proprietary DRM encumbrances that Silverlight provides. So, no, I doubt he will be able to use Moonlight.
And Hollywood, when the Moonlight devs offered to add the DRM logic, flatly rejected them - I understand the second word was "off".

And they want to defeat piracy?

[KiwiNZ]

Please respect the language rules for this Forum.

Thank you

[alexcckll]

Please respect the language rules for this Forum.

Thank you
Apologies. msg duly edited.

[blackbird34]

Now please add 'ARRR' and 'ALL ABOARD MATIES!!' to your sigs everyone!!

[vexorian]

1) What is Blinkbox?
2) People still use silverlight?

[MadmanRB]

why silverlight HTML5 is the future plus moonlight is dead.

[evilsoup]

When there's a reliable way to add DRM to HTML5, that's when content steaming websites will start using it.

[alexcckll]

1) What is Blinkbox?
2) People still use silverlight?
Blinkbox is a film and TV streaming service now mostly owned by Tesco..

Hollywood have leant on them and insisted they go to Silverlight and PlayReady along with Lovefilm and Netflix...

[neu5eeCh]

Out of curiosity (and somewhat related), among you users who use virtualbox or vmware on a state-of-the-art CPU, how does a streaming service like Netflix do?

[vexorian]

The solution is therefore to crack the silverlight DRM completely and pirate everything so hard that there is no economic benefit to using this trash.

[neu5eeCh]

The solution is therefore to crack the silverlight DRM completely and pirate everything so hard that there is no economic benefit to using this trash.

This is turning into a recurring thread, so I'll repeat what I've said elsewhere. First, a quote from OMG Ubuntu (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/mark-shuttleworth-talks-ubuntu-12-10-netflix-laptops-and-more):


Has Canonical spoken to Netflix about bringing the service to Ubuntu TV?

Shuttleworth: Netflix is EVERYWHERE so i think it would be a natural conversation to have, but i’m not aware of the status one way or another, and besides, today is not the day for announcements.
Trying to "get even" with Hollywood isn't the solution. Sending whiny petitions to Netflix is just stupid. If you want Silverlight on Ubuntu (let alone Netflix) the person to lobby/blame/vilify is Shuttleworth (if that's the way you want to think about it). Shuttleworth is the one who could get Silverlight on Ubuntu. If he wants his 200,000,000 users, then he's going to have to make services like silverlight available to Ubuntu users.

[Jakin]

Out of curiosity (and somewhat related), among you users who use virtualbox or vmware on a state-of-the-art CPU, how does a streaming service like Netflix do?

Its not so much an emulation in the traditional sense. So it ought to run fine on windows or mac os- whatever virtual OS that can use the Silverlight plugin and libraries, needed to stream Netflix.

Really the cpu could be entry level probably, as long as it has virtualization; That's the big thing "virtualization enabled cpu". (which is probably all of them nowadays)

[vexorian]

I thought video playback, specially HD used more GPU than CPU?


This is turning into a recurring thread, so I'll repeat what I've said elsewhere. First, a quote from OMG Ubuntu (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/mark-shuttleworth-talks-ubuntu-12-10-netflix-laptops-and-more):

Trying to "get even" with Hollywood isn't the solution. Sending whiny petitions to Netflix is just stupid. If you want Silverlight on Ubuntu (let alone Netflix) the person to lobby/blame/vilify is Shuttleworth (if that's the way you want to think about it). Shuttleworth is the one who could get Silverlight on Ubuntu. If he wants his 200,000,000 users, then he's going to have to make services like silverlight available to Ubuntu users.
I don't want to get even with Netflix (This thread is about blinkbox).

My idea involves no attempt to "get even" or call to petitions. It is to sabotage silverlight DRM and get rid of that excuse to discriminate against Linux.


And I don't want neither Silverlight nor its DRM in ubuntu. They can rot in hell.

[Jakin]

I thought video playback, specially HD used more GPU than CPU?

Im sure it is, But what about the guest additions for the video acceleration? Its been a long time since i used netflix, but i remember it has resolution settings, maybe it would be pushing it to run FULL HD- i don't know, i never tried.

In that case, i'd say it wouldn't be a entry level CPU then, but i see no reason why it couldn't be done. In Theory

[lovinglinux]

1) What is Blinkbox?
2) People still use silverlight?

1 - Don't know
2 - Yes, Netflix.

[lovinglinux]

Out of curiosity (and somewhat related), among you users who use virtualbox or vmware on a state-of-the-art CPU, how does a streaming service like Netflix do?

I have an i5 CPU (not state-of-the-art) and Netflix works fine on VirtualBox with XP guest. Ocasionaly it stops streaming and I have to reload the page, but this is probably some network misconfiguration. In addition to that, sometimes sound goes like a scratched vinil disc in fastforward, but for less than a second. It doesn't really compromises the movie experience. Is also rare. Happens mostly when pausing the video.

Overall quality is great.

[neu5eeCh]

I have an i5 CPU (not state-of-the-art) and Netflix works fine on VirtualBox with XP guest. Ocasionaly it stops streaming and I have to reload the page, but this is probably some network misconfiguration. In addition to that, sometimes sound goes like a scratched vinil disc in fastforward, but for less than a second. It doesn't really compromises the movie experience. Is also rare. Happens mostly when pausing the video.

Overall quality is great.

Thanks. Knowing this makes me less apt to consider dual booting when the day comes to buy the latest and greatest (when my current laptop dies). I'll just make sure I buy enough memory.

[lovinglinux]

Thanks. Knowing this makes me less apt to consider dual booting when the day comes to buy the latest and greatest (when my current laptop dies). I'll just make sure I buy enough memory.

BTW, I have 6 Gib of RAM. Currently, my guest XP is set to use 1 Gb. However, I have successfully watched many Netflix titles with just 256 Mb allocated to the guest OS.

[lykwydchykyn]

If you want to "get back" at Hollywood how about... not watching movies? I've heard recent studies reveal that humans can survive without them.

[zombifier25]

If you want to "get back" at Hollywood how about... not watching movies? I've heard recent studies reveal that humans can survive without them.

Human can also survive without computers, newspapers, etc. The problem here is "surviving" is different from "living".

Silverlight is dead. Flash is dead. Their fate is decided by Apple and their evergrowing iOS user base. HTML5 is the future. Begone with the buggy and insecure browser plugins.

[vexorian]

I'd rather have flash survive than letting an awful monopolist like Apple control what the web is about. HTML5 is the future, but Apple want HTML5 to suffer from their own defacto standard H264. The HTML5 standard was going to be OGG, until Apple meddled with the W3C to remove it from the standard. Apple makes cash everytime other people use H264. So f them.

I'd Rather stay with flash than that.

[alexcckll]

For my part, I just don't care. Please could Canonical ink whatever deals are needed to give me applications I can download from the Partner repo to play Blinkbox content. I don't care if it's outside the browser and more like iTunes in that respect....

If we have to go down the dedicated application route... so be it. I'll even pay.

[doorknob60]

I'd rather have flash survive than letting an awful monopolist like Apple control what the web is about. HTML5 is the future, but Apple want HTML5 to suffer from their own defacto standard H264. The HTML5 standard was going to be OGG, until Apple meddled with the W3C to remove it from the standard. Apple makes cash everytime other people use H264. So f them.

I'd Rather stay with flash than that.

I'd rather use a proprietary codec on an open standard and an open browser than a proprietary codec and a proprietary (and buggy) plugin. And to be fair, H264 isn't "Apple's standard", it's the current industry standard. It's used by BluRays and many cable/sattelite providers, and is supported by almost any device, so it's understandable, though there should be a shift towards open codecs I hope, it will take some time. It's still a step in the right direction.