M$+NBC locking out Linux user

[xebian]

With the Olympics just around the corner, looks like Linux users has no recourse but use Windows to view the Olympics.

Even windows in vbox won't install the required silverlight plugins.

Does anyone knows alternative sites other than NBC? :(

[Icehuck]

With the Olympics just around the corner, looks like Linux users has no recourse but use Windows to view the Olympics.

Even windows in vbox won't install the required silverlight plugins.

Does anyone knows alternative sites other than NBC? :(

Or you can just get moonlight which is the linux version.

[tom66]

Or you can get a cheap TV card with Free to air or Freeview capabilities (like in the UK) and tune into the BBC. Or get a free to air box. I'll probably record it if I can get a signal.

[ooobuntooo]

Use Firefox for Windows under WINE!

[xebian]

Or you can just get moonlight which is the linux version.
I might try this thanks. I hope I could get past NBC check for OS.

[tom66]

Forge the user agent string with this Firefox plugin:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

[xebian]

Or you can get a cheap TV card with Free to air or Freeview capabilities (like in the UK) and tune into the BBC. Or get a free to air box. I'll probably record it if I can get a signal.

But not for non-UK viewers.

[xebian]

Forge the user agent string with this Firefox plugin:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

I tried (changing useragent) that already but no go. Somehow NBC checks the OS

[tom66]

Probably activex. You might have to try WINE with the switcher.

[mrgnash]

Couldn't care less.

[amazingtaters]

I tried (changing useragent) that already but no go. Somehow NBC checks the OS

I got past the OS check fine, but couldn't get any video to load.

[mips]

Couldn't care less.

I'm not watching the olympics either.

[ZarathustraDK]

You could get one of these also ;)

http://www.pinkgodzillagames.com/retro/old%20tv-thumb.JPG

[StrawberryJam8]

I like watching Olympic bloopers, so i'll probably wait for those on Youtube.

[amazingtaters]

Really one of the few events that I actually want to watch is rowing. Oh and discus. Other than that though, I could pass on the rest of the Olympics.

[mips]

Depending on where you live you might be able to see it on Youtube. Youtube will be streaming to 77 teritories but NOT those that already have the digital rights.

Would like to see the list of countries.

[benny bronx]

Really one of the few events that I actually want to watch is rowing. Oh and discus. Other than that though, I could pass on the rest of the Olympics.

I'd watch if they threw the discus at the boats.

[bobbybobington]

Avast me Harties! Tis a good day fur plunderin' (http://newteevee.com/2008/08/05/pirate-olympics-5-alternative-ways-to-watch-the-olympic-games-online/)\\:D/

[tamoneya]

Really one of the few events that I actually want to watch is rowing. Oh and discus. Other than that though, I could pass on the rest of the Olympics.

Yes i cant wait for rowing either. Four years ago they would always show it at like 4 AM.

[phrostbyte]

If someone actually gets this working on Moonlight they are a hero.

[kernelhaxor]

Even windows in vbox won't install the required silverlight plugins.


Am using windows in vbox and I was able to install silverlight .. works fine

[Dr. C]

One can try http://www.cbc.ca
Works fine on Ubuntu 64bit

[xdevnull]

Try this out...
http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings/zone=PT/day=0/sport=FE/online.html

I installed user agent to lie about my OS, so the screen comes up. It asks me about silverlight, which I decline, b/c it won't work...but no video seems to come up.

It's a great thing that NBC is transmitting some of the less popular sports via the internet...too bad they won't do it in a format everyone can see.

[galamud]

If it helps, here's some python code I hacked up to imitate the official Silverlight client. Unfortunately piping its output into mplayer directly doesn't work (it bitches about "Cannot seek backward in linear streams!"), and that's all I've had time to try.


#!/usr/bin/python

import urllib2

url = "http://msolympics-ENC11-high.wm.llnwd.net/msftolympicslive-live/msolympics_ENC11_high?e=1218255518&h=a0559a7d0fb46 8695e1b47c2fb81326f"

opener = urllib2.build_opener()
opener.addheaders = [
('User-Agent', 'NSPlayer/11.08.0005.0000'),
('Accept', '*/*'),
('Accept-Language','en-us, *;q=0.1'),
('Connection', 'Keep-Alive'),
('Pragma', 'client-id=3505472483, playlist-gen-id=252031, xClientGuid={00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}, xPlayStrm=1, no-cache,stream-time=0,stream-offset=4294967295:4294967295,packet-num=4294967295,max-duration=0, LinkBW=2147483647,rate=1.000, AccelDuration=20000, AccelBW=2147483647, stream-switch-count=3, stream-switch-entry=ffff:1:0 ffff:2:0 ffff:3:0'),
('Supported', 'com.microsoft.wm.srvppair, com.microsoft.wm.sswitch, com.microsoft.wm.startupprofile, com.microsoft.wm.predstrm'),
]

f = opener.open(url)

for line in f:
print line

[Kingsley]

I just found this website: http://itsgametime.tv/OlympicsLive.html

I'm not yet sure if it works correctly though.

[mocha]

I'm running WinXP in virtualbox with IE 6, installed a "silverlight" executible when prompted and it's working fine, sound and all. User agent switcher in Linux Firefox never showed video.

[Saint Angeles]

cant you just read about who wins in the paper or on the news?

whats the point of watching some weirdos play with eachother?

[BigSilly]

Is this no good? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/default.stm) Also, what about this? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/olympics) Should be working for viewers across the globe shouldn't it?

[pt123]

cant you just read about who wins in the paper or on the news?

whats the point of watching some weirdos play with eachother?

huh?

[skiani]

Feedback to NBC:

nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com

[jeyaganesh]

What about Zattoo TV. From Uk I could see some BBC,Four,Euro news and French channels using Zattoo.

[AR_Kozz]

Silverlight doesn't work with Wine, and the linux port of Silverlight, Moonlight, doesn't work yet (I tried both) so there's no way around this issue for those of us in the US. If I lived in the UK or Canada, it would be easy. But the broadcasting market in those countries isn't dominated by companies that are so brazen as to hold a blockbuster event hostage to launch a beta version of their crappy software.

I have contaced nbc about it, via email feedback on nbc.com. I urge everyone else to do the same and request flash format olympics video immediately. Tell them you won't watch nbc anywhere, otherwise.

Obviously a lot of people are really pissed off about this. If enough of us complain to nbc, they may get the message and put their broadcast in flash where it belongs. Or at least wmv.

[BigSilly]

Silverlight doesn't work with Wine, and the linux port of Silverlight, Moonlight, doesn't work yet (I tried both) so there's no way around this issue for those of us in the US. If I lived in the UK or Canada, it would be easy. But the broadcasting market in those countries isn't dominated by companies that are so brazen as to hold a blockbuster event hostage to launch a beta version of their crappy software.

I have contaced nbc about it, via email feedback on nbc.com. I urge everyone else to do the same and request flash format olympics video immediately. Tell them you won't watch nbc anywhere, otherwise.

Obviously a lot of people are really pissed off about this. If enough of us complain to nbc, they may get the message and put their broadcast in flash where it belongs. Or at least wmv.

It's not as hopeless a suggestion as it may first appear. If there was some way to get everyone who has been affected by this to email and badger NBC, you'd be sure of some kind of result. At the very least it has to be better than posting on forums about how crap it is.

I think it's an absolute disgrace. The BBC aren't perfect when it comes to other OS's, but I'm bloody glad I live in the UK in this instance.

I simply cannot believe this was allowed to happen. Locking people OUT of such a massive event. It's insanity.

[galamud]

Does anyone want to actually work on the problem instead of just yelling at NBC/MS? I doubt they invented their own video codec for this. I posted some code up above for sending the same headers that the Silverlight client sends, and that actually got me the stream from the server. I just need some help figuring out how to decode that stream.

We can totally get this to work with some team effort. We could probably make a ******* awesome olympic sport viewer, too, with some menu systems and picture-in-picture.

[TimboUK]

As one of the previous posters said, Im sure if you went to www.bbc.co.uk and accessed the BBCI player, you'd be able to watch the olympics coverage there. They certainly have the opening ceremony on it, as I saw it the other day when watching a repeat of Dr Who.

Id be interested to know if its blocked to people outside the UK.

[phrostbyte]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VC-1

^ That's probably the codec being used.

MPlayer seems to support it. I am not sure about VLC.

[amazingtaters]

As one of the previous posters said, Im sure if you went to www.bbc.co.uk and accessed the BBCI player, you'd be able to watch the olympics coverage there. They certainly have the opening ceremony on it, as I saw it the other day when watching a repeat of Dr Who.

Id be interested to know if its blocked to people outside the UK.

Those of us outside of the UK can get all the iPlayer radio broadcasts we want, but no video. I tried watching the mens coxless swept 4 (rowing) and couldn't.

[Sunflower1970]

Is this no good? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/default.stm) Also, what about this? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/olympics) Should be working for viewers across the globe shouldn't it?
Doesn't work for anyone with a US IP (Not sure about the rest of the world, though). If one uses a proxy to mask the US IP then it can be used.

[AR_Kozz]

Does anyone want to actually work on the problem instead of just yelling at NBC/MS? I doubt they invented their own video codec for this. I posted some code up above for sending the same headers that the Silverlight client sends, and that actually got me the stream from the server. I just need some help figuring out how to decode that stream.

We can totally get this to work with some team effort. We could probably make a ******* awesome olympic sport viewer, too, with some menu systems and picture-in-picture.

I'm not too skilled about that, but I bet maybe you could figure out what it uses if you examine the documentation from the moonlight project. It's at, I think,
http://www.go-mono.com

The binaries include no codecs, but the source apparently does, which suggests you are right that it's not a new proprietary thing, but even if it was I bet it's included in the source.

[AR_Kozz]

Does anyone want to actually work on the problem instead of just yelling at NBC/MS? I doubt they invented their own video codec for this. I posted some code up above for sending the same headers that the Silverlight client sends, and that actually got me the stream from the server. I just need some help figuring out how to decode that stream.

We can totally get this to work with some team effort. We could probably make a ******* awesome olympic sport viewer, too, with some menu systems and picture-in-picture.

I bet maybe you could figure out what it uses if you examine the documentation from the moonlight project. It's at

http://www.go-mono.com

the download links to the 0.7 binary and the source are in the lower right.

The binaries include no codecs, but the source apparently does, which suggests you are right that it's not a new proprietary thing, but even if it was I bet it's included in the source.

[Diggs808]

I have an idea that may just work...but it will take some effort and a little money on our part. Lets stage an old fashioned write in protest! Notice how all of these shows that nearly get canceled are saved by write in campaigns? In the case of Jericho...the show was saved (at least it was allowed to wrap up) by fans sending bags of nuts to the president of CBS. So lets do the same...except...lets send them a copy of our favorite distro. It won't cost much...just go online and download the ISO...burn it to a CD or two and then send it to the president of NBC along with a POLITE AND FRIENDLY letter.

Personally I will commit to sending one of these per day until they change thier mind or the olympics end.

Sample Letter

Mr. Jeff Zucker
President and Chief Executive Officer
NBC Universal Television Group
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
(212) 664-4444


Dear Mr Zucker,

I have thourgholy enjoyed the Olympics so far, however we have recently discovered that the online content enjoyed by many in the United States is not available for computer users who run Linux Operating systems includling Ubuntu, Red Hat, and others. This is very disappointing for those of us who choose to use Linux. It means that we are not able to view the olympics and cheer on our team in our favorite sports.

We are not asking for much, however what we are asking for is simple. Allow us access to the online content that many others are already enjoying. Websites outside of the US (cbc.ca and others) are broadcasting thier internet content in Flash. We respectfully ask as a community of computer users and olympic fans that you make your content available to those consumers who do not use Microsoft products.

If you do not have the technical resources available to make this happen we offer our services as a community to make this work.

Thank you very much for your time.

Signed,

(YOUR NAME HERE)

[k_i_k]

Actually, while it is not completely trivial, it is possible to get the live stream URLs from the NBC website without going through its terrible user interface.

I wrote a short Python script to do just that. See attached. As is, it will scan the current Tennis schedule and print the matches that are being streamed live, together with and MMS stream URL. The stream can be downloaded with mimms (apt-get install mimms) or viewed with xine or mplayer (which can also save streams with the -dumpstream option). Look inside for examples of how to change Tennis to your favorite sport (like Badminton :-). If you want to view past matches, change 'Live ' to 'Rewind ' in the script. Although, I've so far had not had much success with that.

Alas, this script will only work if you're inside the US. Try the script, modify to your heart's desire and spread the word.

On a technical note, here are the Python XML packages I have installed (you may only need some, haven't checked):


python-libxml2
python-lxml
python-xml

[grotto]

"M$" :rolleyes:

How about ¢anoni¢al? Yes, that's pretty dumb too.

[globose]

Actually, while it is not completely trivial, it is possible to get the live stream URLs from the NBC website without going through its terrible user interface.

I wrote a short Python script to do just that. See attached.

Alas, this script will only work if you're inside the US. Try the script, modify to your heart's desire and spread the word.

On a technical note, here are the Python XML packages I have installed (you may only need some, haven't checked):


python-libxml2
python-lxml
python-xml

Thanks again for typing this script up, k_i_k. For anyone wanting more information about this script, or for debugging problems, there is more information in this forum: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=883142&page=4

Pages 4 and beyond have a lot of helpful posts, plus a newer version of the script by k_i_K (in post #36), and a modification of that from me (in post #54) for those who are getting an error code relating to "No module named ext.reader"

[carltonh]

I am reviving this thread because I had this NBC-Linux issue attempting to watch Heroes at www.nbc.com/heroes. Since this is the top ubuntuforums.org result on a Google search, I want to update to say how you can get around this without Windows.

First, I'm using Ubuntu 9.10 x86 and Wine 1.1.32 from the winehq.org repository. I download and install Firefox (3.5 at the moment) for Windows, separately I downloaded silverlight.exe from silverlight.net, and then the 32 bit Windows version of Adobe Flash. Then install the last two in Wine.

Note that Firefox did freeze and slow down at a couple points during installation of these, but then seemed to work well enough. www.nbc.com/heroes let me watch a whole episode without any problems, though it is slightly choppy because my laptop has an old old ATI card, and can't use the proprietary ATI driver...and so I didn't bother trying full screen.

I didn't try using Moonlight (1.0.1) for Windows instead of Silverlight, but I did confirm that Moonlight in standard Linux Firefox will not work to watch episodes on NBC.com

[jrusso2]

I run Netflix in virtualbox and that uses silverlight so I would think this would work also.

[doorknob60]

I am reviving this thread because I had this NBC-Linux issue attempting to watch Heroes at www.nbc.com/heroes. Since this is the top ubuntuforums.org result on a Google search, I want to update to say how you can get around this without Windows.

First, I'm using Ubuntu 9.10 x86 and Wine 1.1.32 from the winehq.org repository. I download and install Firefox (3.5 at the moment) for Windows, separately I downloaded silverlight.exe from silverlight.net, and then the 32 bit Windows version of Adobe Flash. Then install the last two in Wine.

Note that Firefox did freeze and slow down at a couple points during installation of these, but then seemed to work well enough. www.nbc.com/heroes let me watch a whole episode without any problems, though it is slightly choppy because my laptop has an old old ATI card, and can't use the proprietary ATI driver...and so I didn't bother trying full screen.

I didn't try using Moonlight (1.0.1) for Windows instead of Silverlight, but I did confirm that Moonlight in standard Linux Firefox will not work to watch episodes on NBC.com

...Or just use Hulu (either their Linux-compatible Flash site or their native Linux desktop client) and don't worry about all this stuff :P