Boxee has had to change its development to make its app work like a browser. It is now basically a fancy version of firefox with a really nice remote-control-friendly interface. But, Hulu still tries to block them. If they did the same to firefox there would be a media s***storm probably involving a class action lawsuit or an anti-trust court case. But, only because Boxee is a bleeding edge technology, most people don’t understand where to draw the lines and Hulu gets away with it.

It’s not about advertisers. Boxee does nothing to prevent the commercials that come through hulu, or any of the many other content providers that can be found through Boxee.

So, why does hulu continue to attack boxee. Because, if Boxee succeeds, Hulu can’t dominate the medium.

I love the fact that I can watch shows from hulu, switch over to Ted Talks for some inspiration, study a bit by watching opencourseware from MIT, and play some pandora for background noise when I have guests over.

Hulu fights it because, if content creators realize that they can create and distribute successful revenue generating shows over the internet without the massive TV distribution syndicates, they will. NBC ABC Fox and all the other players add little or no value to the user experience, and they never have. They’re simply the cable tv channel gatekeepers.

Hulu hates boxee because it’s a direct threat to the major cable syndicates.

Here’s a new angle… Since boxee is inherently social (that’s the whole point of boxee, watch tv and share what you’re watching with friends) what happens if you’re friends tell you what shows are good and what shows suck?

Right now, the TV viewing experience is very nonsocial. How often do people get together to share/watch tv together? Not much at all. But, if people don’t know inherently know what tv shows they like, how do they find out what they like to watch.

On cable… they don’t. Because the majority of people out there who work regular jobs watch whatever is on primetime. So, whoever controls prime time controls tv.

What if consumers no longer were subjected to the crap that comes through prime time. If consumers had the freedom to choose the shows they liked on demand of their own choosing?

Then TV wouldn’t suck anymore and the companies who make sucky TV would lose their position of dominance.

Of course, with the obsolescence of prime time, news networks would lose their power to influence the masses. Scary thought for ABC/NBC/Fox because, right now, primetime news owns TV.

Think that you’re too smart/cunning/independent/self-righteous/etc… to allow something like news to influence you? Ask yourself this, how many hours did you sit, glued to the tube during Hurricane Katrina? Now, how much money/help/support did you provide during the crisis.

News gets rich during crisis and from that, they’ve managed to take over TV and are working on trying to take over internet TV.

If the major networks can manage to kill all the little apps that tap into their online sources for content. They’ll take over internet distribution of TV and TV will continue to suck as much as it always has.

I’d suggest checking out hulu on boxee to see for yourselves, but hulu has managed another hack to disrupt viewing on boxee so it doesn’t work (at the moment).

And if they don’t want to let Boxee gain user traction (with their content) around the TV consumption mode when they’re being boxed in by their content providers to a PC / Web”mostly” experience, they shouldn’t be labeled as “anti-competitive” for doing so.