In inghilterra Sky offre un servizio di download dei film su hardware proprietario chiamato BSkyB e basato su tecnologia Microsoft -- che pero' e' stata craccata. Pertanto al momento BskyB e' CHIUSO.

BSkyB halts film downloads over software cracks







By Jeffrey Goldfarb

LONDON (Reuters) - UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has temporarily shut down its fledgling broadband film service after software provided by Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) was cracked, enabling the digital protection to be stripped.

The problem, caused by hacking software FreeUse4WM, also affected sports clips on the Sky by broadband service, which was launched in January.

"We took this step as a precaution after Microsoft said it was working on an update to its digital rights management software, which is used to protect content on Sky by broadband against unauthorized copying or distribution," a Sky spokesman said on Tuesday.

He declined to comment on when the broadband service, which was halted on August 31, would be up and running, deferring questions to Microsoft.

The software giant said it was devising another patch, after already having rushed out an earlier one when the initial software was cracked. A new version of FreeUse4WM broke through the patch.

"We are working on a fix and have alerted our content provider customers," said Marcus Matthias, a Microsoft senior product manager in the Windows Client division. "When ready, we will work with our content partners to deploy this solution."

About 250,000 of BSkyB's 8.2 million pay-TV subscribers have downloaded the application to watch programming over the Internet, and about 1 million film and sports clips have been viewed, the BSkyB spokesman said.

The download service is free for customers who subscribe to its premium film and sports packages.

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