Comments on: NBC, Hulu Point Fingers in Boxee Blame Game

By: barth

barth — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:05:13 +0000

The ridiculous thing about all this is that anyone running Boxee already has a TV hooked up to their computer. Pulling Hulu from Boxee doesn’t keep their content off of TVs, it just makes it more difficult for a large segment of potential users to view it – including Hulu’s ads. If they really wanted it off TVs they would get rid of the Hulu desktop software. :)

By: iRoNBiLL

iRoNBiLL — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:54:07 +0000

NBC, FOX, Hulu and anyone else who thinks they can create proprietary devices that discriminate against certain products or services will find out just how big of a "no-no" that will be for them.

Discrimination is discrimination... if you want to discriminate, don't be suprised if you get a lesson learned the hard way. This argument is over control of money... nothing else. Anyone who thinks future legislation will allow for the inherent discrimination of other products will be shocked to find subpoenas at their doors one day for blocking the flow of publicly available internet traffic.

Arguing the "small things" to try and justify discrimination is horrifying and despicable... if you make something publicly available on the internet, then it is accessible to all. No if's, and's or but's! If Hulu wants to get in the IPTV market, then they need to make a Hulu-box or close the Hulu.com website if they don't like it.

By: Brent

Brent — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:52:30 +0000

I feel the troll comments are well in order. One issue rests in that Hulu previously streamed a user's cue from start to finish, without having to individually click/choose shows (although it still will play a continuous stream of the same show). I have yet to attempt an rss feed on the new Boxee.

However, Kevin and Maskman are correct, once maximized, the issue about branding and packaging are moot. The screen IS in full. The Hulu icon continues to display in the lower left corner, so Michael's explanations are bald.

I am not supportive of "stealing" content, but this is hardly that. Removing Hulu access from Boxee could have been a competitive move, but if it is anything other than that, it is puerile. The workarounds are all coming, but I hardly have the time to deal with recoding on something so lame as this. A 3rd party can assist with the interpretive streams and boom: you've a workaround. Just a couple of linked icons...

Playing this whole game is lame though; I'll be reading a book.

By: Next Up For Boxee: A Blu-ray Player?

Next Up For Boxee: A Blu-ray Player? — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:47:36 +0000

[...] recently made headlines with a very different story when its product was mentioned during a congressional hearing about the Comcast / NBCU merger, where NBC CEO Jeff Zucker called Boxee’s approach to play [...]

By: Michael Weinberg

Michael Weinberg — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:09:22 +0000

We put out a piece last night pointing out that Zucker took responsibility for pulling Hulu off TV screens last May (in contrast to what he told Congress):

http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/2881

By: kevin

kevin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:28:00 +0000

Enough! I'm sick of seeing you posting all over and giving minimal facts. You need to mention the full sory.

Hulu said the conent providers didn't want boxee to have access and the content providers now say Hulu doesn't want boxee to have access. If it was because the video loaded full screen then they would have said it.

The ads are all there and Boxee has tried to work to meet any other requirements.

The content providers are ignorant and think they know more then the customer. The customer loses again.

By: maskman01

maskman01 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:18:59 +0000

Please stop trolling.

Think it through before you speak

By: Michael Turk

Michael Turk — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:41:44 +0000

Boxee's comments, however, are not accurate. Boxee operates as a browser in some ways, but not others.

When a Hulu video is loaded, Boxee forces the video to full screen, thereby preventing the Hulu site branding and additional content from being displayed.

So in a sense, Zucker was exactly right. The rest of Hulu's real estate is essentially suppressed, in favor of Boxee's look ad feel.

No other browser hides the Hulu real estate absent a specific decision by the user operating the browser. So it doesn't behave exactly like Firefox or IE.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:24:01 +0000

Hulu management knows that Boxee is different from other points of distribution, not just because they are on the TV, but because their mission is essentially the same - to aggregate all premium content (whether or not they host it), and that the winning aggregator will likely take most of the audience. Boxee doesn't yet have the brand or backing of Hulu, but they do have something powerful that Hulu doesn't: the ability to aggregate Hulu and non-Hulu content into a holistic offering. Jason Kilar (Hulu CEO) gets this, saw them as a potential threat, knew that removing Hulu's exclusive content would level the playing field, and made a smart defensive move. Zucker played bad cop and Kilar told a white lie. Whether or not Zucker agreed with it or even demanded it is secondary.