BBC activates iPlayer Flash verification – Locking out open source – Update

“The BBC have activated a protection mechanism on the Flash
based streaming system used by iPlayer, stopping open source media
players from legally playing BBC content according to a report on
The Register. The protection mechanism, known as SWF Verification,
sends a “ping” message to the player software after one or two
minutes of a stream being played. The player software is expected
to identify the Flash version in use; if it does not, or if it’s
response doesn’t match a list of authorised players on the server,
then the stream is disconnected. Previously, iPlayer had not sent
SWF Verification pings, and media players such as XBMC were able to
include open source plug-ins which could play the content. Now,
these plug-ins stop working after one or two minutes.”

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