Walled garden?
The Open Source Consortium (OSC) has asked Ofcom to investigate Project Canvas on the basis that the IPTV venture will hit the device and software sector hard and not benefit consumers either.
"The BBC led consortium developing Project Canvas are looking to develop yet another walled garden. As such, the OSC believes this will have adverse consequences for the device and software sector, diminishing consumer choice and causing inevitable consumer harm," said the body that represents SME companies that offer services for open standards.
It has asked Ofcom to look at the wider effects of the project, which is set to launch as YouView in the first half of next year and promises to bring on-demand programmes to Freeview and Freesat, on the device and software market.
The body joins BSkyB and Virgin Media in grumbling to the regulator. Virgin has opposed the project because of ‘competition concerns'.
"These wider effects will be the result of the BBC and its joint venture partners limiting technology choice, setting arbitrary access conditions and enforcing mandated branding decisions," said the OSC.
It believes any Canvas-backed device will inevitably have an advantage over other general devices letting people access the internet on their TV which are capable of providing access to Canvas content. It said the consortium is seeking to "impose arbitrary and unnecessary conditions".
The trade body added that Project Canvas will mainly impact the organic ‘bazaar-like' development of the market for cheaper and better devices that will evolve based on free and open source software.
"While the technological superiority of Linux is yet again being demonstrated by its choice at the core of this project, the project consortium is using it as internal plumbing and their choice does little if anything for the development of the wider ecosystem," said the OSC.
Despite another objection, Project Canvas has enjoyed a pretty successful week as it received ‘widespread' interest from TV manufacturers in response to its invitation to bring the IPTV venture to devices due to hit the shops in 2011.
Over 40 organisations including household name manufacturers of set-top boxes, TVs and recorders have said they support the ambitious project to bring internet-connected TV devices into people's living rooms.
