Why you can’t download Heroes
I’ve received many comments and emails asking why it’s not possible to download Heroes with my downloader. Several people have hypothesised that it’s due to the age restriction. It’s not: in fact, it’s possible to download other age-restricted programmes without any trouble.
The answer is simple. Downloads are done by spoofing an iPhone, but Heroes is not available for iPhone:
We now have the rights to offer Heroes on BBC iPlayer. However, there are some restrictions, which means we cannot offer downloads, and we cannot offer the Sunday repeats or BBC3 ‘Look first’ broadcasts.
This means that we cannot offer Heroes on Virgin Media, Wii and iPhone and iPod touch. We are aware of demand so there is no need to contact us about this.
Officially, you can’t download the iPhone version, so it’s amusing to see that used as a reason. Perhaps I’m partly responsible for its unavailability to iPhone users!
2008-10-12 09:51 UTC. Comments: 12.
Phil
Wrote at 2008-10-12 11:05 UTC using Safari 525.20.1 on Mac OS X:
Paul,Thanks for making this script, really handy!
I have cobbled together an Applescript and Mail rule so I can browse the iplayer site from my phone, send myself a link via email and the programme is downloaded to my Mac.
A complete Ruby noob question… after downloading I manually move the .mov file onto an external drive, could I modify your script to do this?
any ideas please?
Thanks
Phil
srboisvert
Wrote at 2008-10-12 12:14 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Windows XP:
Has the BBC ever provided an explanation for why one category of user recieves DRM free download rights and the rest of the same License Fee payers do not? Surely rights holders do not grant specific copyright exemptions to the BBC for iPhone owners.I’ve emailed several times and never received anything more a boiler plate bureaucratic bafflegab non-answer.
ewan
Wrote at 2008-10-12 14:40 UTC using Firefox 2.0.0.17 on Linux:
I think it’s unlikely that the BBC could give an official answer to that question since it doesn’t make any real sense.Reading slightly between the lines of some of the posts on the BBC Internet blog I get the impression that many of the BBC people aren’t fans of DRM either, but feel it’s been imposed by the producers. That being the case the DRM only needs to be good enough to satisfy them, and if they’re satisfied with the iPhone iPlayer’s minor hoop-jumping restrictions then that’s fine, job done.
Takla
Wrote at 2008-10-12 15:51 UTC using Mozilla 1.9.0.3 on Linux:
“Has the BBC ever provided an explanation for why one category of user recieves DRM free download rights and the rest of the same License Fee payers do not? Surely rights holders do not grant specific copyright exemptions to the BBC for iPhone owners.”iPhone is capable of displaying streaming h264, not downloading and storing h264, so your question is based on an incorrect assumption. Nobody gets DRM-free downloads by BBC’s design or intent, it’s a side benefit of the streaming service to iPhone and is clearly unintended and unwanted by the BBC and the rights holders.
Andrew 'Kzap'
Wrote at 2008-10-12 16:03 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Linux:
Paul I don’t think it’s because of your wonderful download script that the program is not available on the iphone I think it’s more that they are selling Hereos on itunes and letting all iphone users in the UK see it free might put a slight crimp on their sales.David
Wrote at 2008-10-13 12:52 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Windows Vista:
@ewan:I’m inclined to agree with your comments about the folks at the BBC. Lets face it, they aint stupid. They are searching blogs all the time and will know fine well this program exists. If they were concerned about this program then it would have been stopped a long time ago. As long as the Executive Producers of all the programmes are happy with the DRM then so are the BBC folk.
Lets just hope this program doesn’t get too popular! I don’t want my ability to download radio programmes to stop!
Paul Battley
Wrote at 2008-10-13 18:34 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Linux:
David, you’re absolutely right. I don’t want to get anyone into trouble, but I know for a fact that there are people working for the BBC who regularly use my program!Philip
Wrote at 2008-10-16 17:35 UTC using Opera 9.52 on Linux:
I’m curious about why I can’t download a small but seemingly random selection of other programmes. E.g. b00dwf4f works perfectly fine, but b00dzy91 (the second programme in the same series) always aborts with “An MP4 URL was found, but the download failed”. (It’s not the first time I’ve encountered that kind of problem, though I don’t have links to any other examples). I can’t imagine how that would be caused by a distribution rights issue, but I can’t imagine what else it would be, so it all seems a bit peculiar.Richard Whitehouse
Wrote at 2008-10-24 18:34 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Windows Vista:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b008d36h/Top_Gear_Series_10_Episode_7/This gave me a mov file, but VLC would not player – it said it didn’t support MLP format.
However, there was an iplayer download link. Not sure what DRM etc this has, but it gave me the following line:
http://directdl.iplayer.bbc.co.uk/windowsmedia/TopGearSeries10_Episode7_200810231900_mobile.wmv
Richard Whitehouse
Wrote at 2008-10-24 18:36 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Windows Vista:
PS: The download stalled ~ every 40MB – but pause and resume in firefox managed to collect it all.Fred
Wrote at 2008-10-25 07:43 UTC using Safari 525.20.1 on Mac OS X:
Getting a lot more of these at the moment:An MP4 URL was found, but the download failed.
philip Suggars
Wrote at 2008-10-28 10:24 UTC using Firefox 3.0.3 on Mac OS X:
Hmmm. I can download this to my iPhone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fb5m8/Prescott_The_Class_System_And_Me_Episode_1/but I can’t get to it with the downloader. I get the an mp4 url was found, but the download failed. message. Something to do with the age restriction?