HULU (owned by NBC, FOX, ABC) blocks internet TV viewing

[LVZ]

Shortly after Kylo released their TV-display optimized web browser, HULU started blocking it from displaying the web site's content.

Basically HULU is telling PC users that it is okay to display on a PC monitor but not on a TV monitor.

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=189493&site=lr_cable

First, HULU blocks (unsuccessfully) Boxee and now Kylo. This will probably only bring more attention to both.

HULU is jointly owned by NBC, News Corp. (Fox), and Disney (ABC).

http://kylo.tv/features/">



http://www.dlink.com/boxeebox">


http://forums.raiden.net/viewtopic.php?t=27389&highlight= (Kylo)
http://eforum.reviewjournal.com/lv/showthread.php?t=40109 (Boxee Box)
http://www.lasvegasmixx.com/msnbc-live

[Las Vegas Mixx]

1. People and companies that choose to obstruct progress always lose in the long run. n/t

[Las Vegas Mixx]

21. Will Hulu stand up to Google when Google TV arrives?

I don't think so. Hulu might be shortsighted enough to block Kylo, Boxee, and other smaller companies, but I doubt Hulu's owners, NBC, FOX, and ABC, want to risk the wrath of Google when it introduces its rumored Google TV platform. Of course, Google has the bucks to pay off Hulu to make any problems go away.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/technology/18webtv.html

[sudopod]

2. Because spoofing the user agent is so freaking hard. nt

[LVZ]

4. spoofing the user agent has long been ineffective with many sites ... n/t

[Canuckistanian]

3. I've never seen Hulu - it's blocked in Canada

I tried an anonymous server and a VPN interface. Hulu found them all and blocked access.

[Bonobo]

5. Japan too, sadly. nt

[hyphenate]

7. For some shows

I head over to tv.blinkx.com which can be hit or miss--I watched most of the episodes of Doc Martin from ITV (Britain) there, and some of the Penn and Teller Bullshit eps. They get the signals in from megavideo or dailymotion, I believe, though some are right from YouTube, which sucks, because YT forces them to separate into smaller segments.

[LVZ]

16. Possible solutions for non-US users?

http://techcrunch.com/2009/05/06/control-freaks-hulu-now-blocks-anonymous-proxies-too/



http://lifehacker.com/5361872/hotspot-shield-13-works-with-hulu-again-sometimes

http://anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/

http://www.how-to-hide-ip.info/2009/06/28/10-hotspot-shield-alternatives-to-access-hulu-from-outside-us/

[Better Today]

6. las vegas mix ... msnbc hasn't worked since about two days into the Olympics.

Either that or I'm doing something very wrong.

[LVZ]

8. I was watching MSNBC "live" with that link today ... but ...

Working MSNBC "live" links come and go but this one works more often than others:

http://www.lasvegasmixx.com/msnbc-live

[LVZ]

17. Online MSNBC "live" was down a few hours ago but it seems to be working again this morning.

http://www.lasvegasmixx.com/msnbc-live

[d_b]

9. meh

It all ends up on Demonoid eventually.

[JackRiddler]

10. Can you translate that into English, please?

What is Hulu blocking? Other websites?

[LVZ]

11. For those not familiar with Boxee and Kylo ...

HULU is blocking Kylo and Boxee (and others?)

Kylo is a web browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer designed for viewing on your TV instead of your computer monitor

http://kylo.tv

Boxee is a complete operating system (a specialized version of Linux) used instead of Windows to manage and present multimedia files, e.g., videos, movies, photos, MP3s, etc. Like Kylo, it is intended for viewing on a TV monitor instead of a PC monitor.

http://www.boxee.tv

Boxee Box is a small soon-to-be-released $200 box running Boxee Linux that can be attached to your TV.

http://www.boxee.tv/box

[Occulus]

12. They're making it impossible to use the site with the Kylo browser.

I just installed Kylo to see for myself, and yep, Hulu won't work with it.

This is actually rather funny. Hulu is cutting off the noses of their own content providers.

For one thing, it is simplicity itself to set up Firefox sizewise to display properly on a 1280x720 TV display; you just have to use it in windowed mode rather than maximized mode (and even then, only in SOME cases). For another, it's not not NOT hard to set up your PC to display to use a second screen (if your video card has two video out ports), especially if you're using an nVidia card (it's basically two mouse clicks). Hulu has no way of knowing how your physical display is setup, and never will, so this method is foolproof and will always work.

Secondly, users who prefer Kylo will quickly discover that everything is available through some torrent, dump Kylo, download their shows using Vuze via a torrent tracker, and thus- perhaps deservedly- give everyone the finger.

Seriously. Do the execs in charge of making these decisions even consider that their restrictions only harm legitimate users? I have this same position regarding anti-copy protections on games; a great many games throw restriction after restriction on legitimate, paying users (see Bioshock and Bioshock 2, among a very great many others) which make many users simply unable to use the product out-of-the-box: "you must have an internet connection to activate this game", "some content available only online", "online activation required", "EA account required", etc., and etc. Software pirates, on the other hand, have to deal with no such restrictions, and are able to play the game as intended from the moment they complete their "illegal" download.

Shit like this is why I no longer consider the EULA to be a binding contract. Plus, when you take into account that you have to actually attempt an install, in most cases, to even read the EULA, well.... it's bullshit. Utter bullshit.

I'm sad to see this attitude creeping into visual media as well as games and other software, and I hope Hulu and Kylo get their shit worked out, but in the meantime, this decision by Hulu accomplishes exactly nothing.

Idiots.

[TransitJohn]

18. Video games

I really would've liked to have played Spore, but never have because of the shitty DRM.

[Occulus]

19. That seems to be a problem with

any game that requires a serial number, online activation, and an account at a website.

Bioshock 2 is the very very last "Games for Windows LIVE" title I will ever buy for that exact reason.

(I had trouble with Spore, too, and it isn't even worth the money without the "Galactic Adventures" expansion anyway.)

[Ex Lurker]

13. you also can't watch it in youir browser if you use linux

you have to download a special console. And it's not because they've never supported linux. Up until a month or two ago, hulu worked fine in linux firefox.

[Ex Lurker]

14. I should say, it's all flavors of linux, not just boxee n/t

[LVZ]

15. temporary fix/hack for Kylo

Since the Kylo browser is based on Mozilla (Firefox), I figured out a quick hack to view Hulu without losing the Kylo quick links menu. It probably won't last long but so far it works for me.

I don't want to post it on a major forum like DU but those who want it can find it here:

http://www.lasvegasmixx.com/702

[LVZ]

20. huluCINATION: "Hulu Doesn't Want You To Watch Its Shows"

http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/hulucination/2010/03/23/stream-room-march-23-2010-hulu-doesnt-want-you-watch-its-shows

Hulu blocks an entire browser because it’s meant for watching Web TV on an actual TV. Furthering its crusade against anything that helps you watch Hulu on a TV (outside of its own Hulu Desktop application), the company has blocked a new browser, Kylo, from accessing its content. Kylo is designed for users who plug their computers into their TVs, offering a more mouse-based interface than the keyboard-intensive ones most browsers rely on.