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what are hi-res downloads?
Film Network offers a selection of the best films as hi-res downloads in full-screen, near-DVD quality. If you subscribe (it’s free) you will automatically receive three of Film Network’s very best shorts every fortnight, downloaded in the background and ready for you to watch. Each short is available to watch for 28 days and is automatically deleted after. If you don’t subscribe, you may select shorts to download yourself. how are hi-res downloads different from watching films normally on filmnetwork? The quality of the viewing experience of a hi-res download is far better. All the films on Film Network are offered via streaming. The advantages of streaming is that the film plays immediately and, because the film doesn’t end up on the user’s computer, there are no rights issues and so films can be offered for a long period of time. However, the video is small and, because the file is compressed, the quality of the image isn’t great. Also, if your connection to the web becomes busy, your viewing may be interrupted. By offering films as a download, we don’t need to compress the files as much so we can offer films full screen, in a similar quality to DVD. The disadvantages of downloads are you have to wait for the file to download and the file ends up on the user’s computer. Film Network gets around this by offering subscriptions where files are automatically downloaded in the background, which means that you don’t have to wait and by using digital rights management we can restrict how long users can use the file on their computer. why are hi-res downloads a trial? The hi-res downloads are offered as a public trial for 12-months, until April 2007. The BBC is using the trial to test how the improved viewing experience affects audience behaviour and how people consume short films in this way. It also needs to assess the possible market impact of providing short films as hi-res downloads and if the benefits to the public outweigh any possible negative impact upon commercial services. There are also rights holders who need to be assured that the digital rights management technology is secure. At the end of the trial Film Network hopes to continue offering short films as hi-res downloads and will endeavour to provide existing users with a seamless transition to the continuing offer. are they free? As Film Network is funded by the UK TV licence fee, all of Film Network’s short films including the ones offered as hi-res downloads, are available for free to users within the UK. To find out more about the BBC and how it is funded is www.bbc.co.uk/info. how do hi-res downloads work?
To receive hi-res downloads you need to install the Film Network download plug-in, a small piece of software, developed for the BBC by a company called Kontiki. This piece of software does several things. It:
The films are protected using digital rights management, which means that files cannot be passed on and only play for a set period of time – in the case of Film Network’s short films, for 28 days. Films are provided in Window Media format. Check that your machine has the minimum system requirements before you install the application. what is a peer-to-peer network? The plug-in uses a legal peer-to-peer network to distribute files more efficiently. This means each film you receive can come from several different computers that use the Film Network download plug-in and the films you receive maybe distributed to other users. As a result you will normally receive films quicker than a normal download. The plug-in's use of peer-to-peer technology is strictly controlled, secure and safe and will not allow the BBC or other users to tamper with the files on your computer. isn’t peer-to-peer illegal? No. Applications like Napster, Kazaa and BitTorrent that use peer-to-peer technology have been used to illegally download films and music over the web but the technology itself is not illegal. is it safe? The BBC has taken the following precautions to protect your computer and others from virus attacks:
You can also read more on the security of the peer-to-peer network on Kontiki’s website here. what are the advantages of subscribing? If you subscribe, you won’t need to wait for a film to download before you can watch it. Film Network will automatically deliver three short films every fortnight to your computer in the background so you won’t notice it happening. When the films are ready to watch an alert box will pop up telling you they have been delivered. As the films are only available for 28 days, by subscribing you will get the maximum amount of time to watch them. Also, because of the way peer-to-peer works, subscribing means the files will normally download quicker. how long will films take to download? The length of time it takes to download films depends on your internet connection, the length of the film and how many other people are downloading films. A five-minute film will take around 15(?) minutes to download on a 1-megabit broadband connection. what is digital rights management? A media file with digital rights management (or DRM) is a file that can only be used in conjunction with a licence that is issued to you. Normally this is an invisible process and the media player requests the licence when you first play the content. The licence means that the use of content can be restricted in various ways. In the case of Film Network’s short films you are given a licence to watch them for 28 days, so that on a particular date the licence will expire and you will no longer be able to play it. Film Network’s download plug-in also deletes files that have expired so that your hard disk does not get filled up unnecessarily. If you pass a file with digital rights management to someone else, they will not be able play it until they have a licence issued to them from Film Network. why does Film Network use digital rights management? Film Network uses DRM to protect rights holders. In order to show a film as a download, the BBC must acquire rights to show it and by using DRM we can buy a licence to show the content for a short period of time, after which it can’t be seen, even if users still have the media file. This means filmmakers and distributors can offer their films to other people in the knowledge that their film doesn’t exist anywhere and cannot be passed on illegally. why do I need to be online the first time I play a film? When you first play a film, Windows Media Player request a licence to play it that needs to be issued to you from Film Network. This means you need to be connected to the internet. You may then subsequently watch the film offline until the licence expires. which films are offered as hi-res downloads? Film Network publishes three new shorts every week but we will only be offering a selection of the best of these as a download. The films we offer as hi-res downloads will be ones that we think will appeal to a wider audience. We hope that by offering short films with this quality of viewing experience, we will attract more people than would typically watch short films. how long do I have to watch a film? Each film is offered for 28 days and no matter when you download it, the file’s licence will expire on the last day of this period and you will no longer be able to watch it. For instance a film might be offered from 1st May until 28th May and whether you download it on 1st, 14th or 28th May it will expire at midnight on 28th May. If you are subscribed you will receive the films as soon as they are made available and you will have the full 28 days to view them. what are the advantages of automatically starting the application? We recommend that you allow the application to automatically start up with Windows (this is the default setting – to turn it off go to the settings window). This is because in order to deliver the films in the background the application must be running. If you turn this off, the files will only download when you start the application. This means will mean you have to wait for the films to be downloaded. how much disk space will it take up? This depends on the length of films. If you are subscribed to receive automatic download, you will receive three short films of between 1 and 20 minutes (on average 8 minutes) every two weeks, which will take up around 500 MB of your disk space. Each piece of content will have a licence that allows it to be viewed for a limited time period, normally 28 days. This means that there will normally have 6 short films available to watch which requires around 1GB of hard disk space. can I receive hi-res downloads?
The Software requires the following minimum specification to operate:
Please Note: The application uses port 80 and there maybe conflics if you run a web server on you computer. Why am I having problems viewing new downloads? Please note that MS Explorer has recently launched a new version of its browser, Internet Explorer 7.0. New and existing BBC Film Network Subscribers may have problems downloading new short films to the BBC Download Player if the most recent version of Explorer has been installed. Currently, supported browsers for the BBC Download service are Internet Explorer 5.5 - 6.0. BBC Film Network Download Player partners are working on compatibility with this new browser so thank you for your patience. The compatibility problems should be resolved by December 06. why can’t I receive hi-res downloads on Mac and Linux? Currently the only technology available that offers the time-based digital rights management is Microsoft’s Windows Media Player 9. Unfortunately the version available for Apple Mac doesn’t offer DRM. The BBC is currently working with its partners to offer a Mac and Linux solution in the future. why can’t I receive hi-res downloads outside the UK? As the BBC Film Network is funded through the UK TV licence fee, we are only able to offer the hi-res downloads within the UK. how do I uninstall hi-res downloads?
You can uninstall Software in the usual way: 1. Delete all films in the ‘my videos’ window 2. Click on “Start” on your computer 3. then open “Control Panel” 4. now select “Add or Remove Programs” 5. You should now be in “Change or Remove Programs”. 6. If so click on “ Software Uninstall”, 7. Select “BBC Film Network” 8. then “Change/Remove”, 9. and then click “Uninstall Software”. 10. Click “Yes” at the next warning screen to start the Software removal process. troubleshooting
I can no longer see a film that was in my downloads section This is probably because the file’s licence has expired and it has been deleted so that it doesn’t fill up your hard disk. We can only offer films as downloads for a limited period but the film will probably be available to stream on the website. Try entering the title into the search box above. the file won’t play If you are unable to play a file and are getting an error message related to DRM, there are several possible problems. The most common of these are given below. a) You don't have Windows Media Player configured correctly to play content with DRM applied to it. Within WMP, select Tools/Options and go to the Privacy tab. Make sure the 'Acquire licenses automatically for protected content' box is checked. b) You were offline when attempting to play the video. You must be online to acquire the license the first time you play the content. Once the license is acquired, you can play the content while offline. c) The DRM license is expired. Unfortunately, the file simply cannot be played after the DRM license is expired. Normally the application will delete these files. d) You are using an older version of Windows Media Player that is not compatible with the codec (the digital format of the video) of the file. You can upgrade your Windows Media Player by opening up Windows Media Player (Start/Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Windows Media Player) and then going to Help/Check for Player Updates. Updating WMP is free and should only take a minute or two. e) There could be a temporary problem with the network connection between your computer and the DRM server, or there could be a temporary problem with the DRM server. You should ensure that your computer is successfully online by browsing any particular web site (i.e.www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork). Trying to play the video again a few minutes later may resolve the issue. The DRM servers are monitored. If there is a problem with them this is automatically detected quickly. If the problem persists, it may be an issue with the DRM server. f) For the Film Network download application to work properly, the client must be able to make outbound connections to the BBC's servers. If you have a router with a built in firewall please make sure you have ports 80, 443, 1947, 1948, 4000, 5000, and 8888 open as the application uses these ports. g) It could also mean that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is blocking peer-to-peer traffic. Please contact them to ask them about this. They will have to open ports 80, 443, 1947, 1948, 4000, 5000, and 8888 to allow this. h) Please ensure that if you are using a router that it is correctly configured. Some routers have 4 options for security 'none/low/medium/high'. Most people will have it configured on the 'high' option. By default the 'high' option only allows outbound connection on well-known ports, e.g. SMTP, pop3, http, https, ftp, etc. Specific application ports (P2P, Kontiki etc) have to be configured manually. I’ve got a question that’s not covered here Try Kontiki’s in-depth help section that can be found here. Alternatively you can email filmnetwork.downloads@bbc.co.uk. who are Kontiki? Kontiki are a San Francisco-based company who specialise in the distribution of large media files e.g. music and film. They developed the Film Network download application for the BBC. Find out more about them at www.kontiki.com. how do I get support? If you have difficulty using or installing the application, you can email filmnetwork.downloads@bbc.co.uk. Technical support for Film Network’s hi-res download trial is provided by Kontiki who developed the application for the BBC. In order to assist us and help us resolve issues as quickly as possible, please ensure that when you contact us you supply as much information as possible. Try and include:
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