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Hulu requests removal from Boxee

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Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#11

Post by jnoller »

swlevy wrote: post #9
abstractbill wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old-media guys who made this decision almost certainly don't have a clue what RSS is. I share your viewpoint, but there are (still) many dinosaurs running this industry.

It isn't quite that simple; I work for an "old media" company, and for us, Boxee jumped the gun by ingesting content prior to having the requisite agreement. Since they did not consult our developers, our ads were not implemented correctly, and we weren't getting paid (even though Boxee's users may have been seeing the ads).

Then work with them to forge the deal, instead of yanking your content and causing a frenzy which isn't in your favor. Maybe explain why the ads were not generating revenue, for starters. Just having it yanked begets bad blood.

There's a lot of early adopters and people using boxee+hulu, and pulling it means people will simply tune you out.

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#13

Post by babul »

In a way, this is actually a good sign. It shows the content providers are scared. You are not doing things right if you are not shaking things up and scaring people. That is what disruptive technology is about.

Many startups face similar challenges and this reminds me of the struggles ones such as GlassesDirect.co.uk had to go through before becoming successful (they could have been crushed many times by Goliaths but fought through) - it had to close several times when major competitors and retailers tried to sabotage its business by forcing manufacturers/suppliers to drop GlassesDirect (else they would withdraw their vastly larger orders) and running smear campaigns in the press with false allegations about why using the service was illegal and substandard.

In this case, yes, content providers have a right to choose where/how their content is shown, but this is probably more to do with not getting licensing fees from Boxee than anything else. However, if they do not adopt/embrace legal methods such as Boxee (and insert extra adverts etc. to make the revenue they want), then they only encourage illegal methods.

---

Concerted efforts to sabotage the new venture have proved fruitless. In September, his main supplier mysteriously dropped him. “They suddenly said they couldn’t do business with me. I reckon they had pressure put on them by a high-street chain. It took me a week to find a new supplier and re-do the website.” The trade press confirmed his paranoia when letters and articles appeared questioning the firm’s credentials and the General Optical Council launched an investigation. “Groundless attacks. I have fully qualified opticians working in labs, making the glasses. [http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/archive/4775601/feature-glasse...]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Murray_Wells

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#14

Post by jonursenbach »

swlevy wrote: post #9
abstractbill wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old-media guys who made this decision almost certainly don't have a clue what RSS is. I share your viewpoint, but there are (still) many dinosaurs running this industry.

It isn't quite that simple; I work for an "old media" company, and for us, Boxee jumped the gun by ingesting content prior to having the requisite agreement. Since they did not consult our developers, our ads were not implemented correctly, and we weren't getting paid (even though Boxee's users may have been seeing the ads).

How is what Boxee was doing any different from the EMBED tag that Hulu gives out?

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#15

Post by sachinag »

ctingom wrote: post #7
sachinag wrote: post #5

You can fullscreen Hulu onto your TV with a PlayStation 3.

How do you do that?

1. Open Internet Browser 2. Hit Triangle and Search for [hulu] 3. Go to Hulu.com (should be the first hit) 4. Click on the video you want. 5. When the page loads, hit Triangle then click on View. Then select the "maxiumum size" option. 6. Then Click on Full Screen view in the options on the Hulu page.

This should work, but I get letterboxing on the left and right sides of my HDTV. I assume this is my TV, but who knows.

[Edit: it appears that Step 5 is unnecessary.]

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#16

Post by zhyder »

jonursenbach wrote: post #2

It really is a shame for NBCU, and company, to ask Hulu to cut Boxee off. If I recall correctly, didn't content from Hulu that was piped into Boxee still have ads? Hopefully someday they'll realize that when they cut off people from having legal access to their content, people will go back to their illegal methods. When will old media learn?

Hulu.com does have fewer ads than broadcast TV (altho a DVR can circumvent ads on the latter). If NBC makes less per view on Hulu than it does on TV, this request makes some sense.

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#18

Post by mechanical_fish »

swlevy wrote: post #9
abstractbill wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old-media guys who made this decision almost certainly don't have a clue what RSS is. I share your viewpoint, but there are (still) many dinosaurs running this industry.

It isn't quite that simple; I work for an "old media" company, and for us, Boxee jumped the gun by ingesting content prior to having the requisite agreement. Since they did not consult our developers, our ads were not implemented correctly, and we weren't getting paid (even though Boxee's users may have been seeing the ads).

Have your employers considered how many ads the Bittorrent users are paying for?

Boxee is taking off. Its users are voluntarily watching your ads. And, instead of trying to work with that and ride the wave, your tired media company is emasculating it. Sounds like the kind of brilliant logic that led the music publishers to destroy Napster, only stupider.

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#19

Post by wmf »

zhyder wrote: post #16
jonursenbach wrote: post #2

It really is a shame for NBCU, and company, to ask Hulu to cut Boxee off. If I recall correctly, didn't content from Hulu that was piped into Boxee still have ads? Hopefully someday they'll realize that when they cut off people from having legal access to their content, people will go back to their illegal methods. When will old media learn?

Hulu.com does have fewer ads than broadcast TV (altho a DVR can circumvent ads on the latter). If NBC makes less per view on Hulu than it does on TV, this request makes some sense.

No it doesn't, because whether you watch Hulu using Firefox or Boxee the same ads should be shown.

Re: Hulu requests removal from Boxee

#20

Post by wmf »

sachinag wrote: post #15
ctingom wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you do that?

1. Open Internet Browser 2. Hit Triangle and Search for [hulu] 3. Go to Hulu.com (should be the first hit) 4. Click on the video you want. 5. When the page loads, hit Triangle then click on View. Then select the "maxiumum size" option. 6. Then Click on Full Screen view in the options on the Hulu page. This should work, but I get letterboxing on the left and right sides of my HDTV. I assume this is my TV, but who know…

In my experience you have to use the game controller (rather than the remote) to hit the full screen button. Overall, I find that PlayOn gives a much better experience than the PS3 Web browser.
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